ELIZABETH CITY, North Carolina — The threat of flooding during a storm is nothing new in Elizabeth City. Debby brought with it heavy winds and some rain, but to many in the area, it was just another summer day.
“We can't wait for the next hurricane or tropical storm to get ready. We have to be ready," said Montre' Freeman, city manager for Elizabeth City.
The Thursday threat was clearly the high winds and how the Pasquotank River would react. But overnight into Friday, the rainfall followed.
Watch: Remnants of Debby move north, leave storms and showers in Virginia, North Carolina
“Here in Elizabeth City, the elevation we're really low, so a heavy rain can cause temporary flooding here. Now, the good is the water recedes very quickly. The bad is it can build very quickly," said Freeman.
Freeman said at the public works level, the main focus is making sure nothing is blocking the drains to allow all the water to flow through.
“First step was cleaning storm drains. That's a big piece. You want water to be able to flow. You know that a lot of water is coming.”
Watch: Emergency Management monitoring Tropical Storm Debby's movements
For area residents and business owners, they monitored the storm, but it really didn't have an impact or change their daily plans.
“We’ll still take precautions and watch the weather and everything but we’re very grateful that it didn’t leave much of an impact," said Diana Bennett, owner of The Kraken Coffeehouse.
"Kind of nothing new around here because we live so close to the beach," said Tami Brock, a longtime resident.
Living close to the beach means understanding the impact that future storms might bring. But people said that isn't on their mind right now, they are just going to take it one day at a time.
