Still-churning remnants of Tropical Storm Debby prompted Raleigh auto dealerships to move vehicles

Dealerships in North Carolina moved vehicles to higher ground in anticipation of Tropical Storm Debby's drenching arrival.

Hanna Imports, a used-vehicle dealership in Raleigh, N.C., relocated about 200 vehicles ahead of the storm, General Manager Chris Selfani told Automotive News on Aug. 7.

"We pick the sections of the lot that we know are vulnerable to flooding from past experience, and we move these cars to higher ground," Selfani said.

Hanna Imports is near Crabtree Creek, a tributary of the Neuse River. Selfani said the area hasn't faced significant flooding since Hurricane Matthew in 2016 thanks to drainage improvements by the city of Raleigh. Still, flood warnings made the dealership want to "be on the safe side" in moving vehicles, he said.

Southern States Subaru of Raleigh and Thompson Buick-GMC across the creek also moved some vehicles to higher ground, Selfani said. The three dealerships work together to stay informed about potential flood risks, he said. However, unlike the two others, Hanna doesn't own property safe from flooding.

"Unfortunately, pretty much most of our property is in the flood zone, so we have to go off site," he said.

The storm made a second landfall northeast of Charleston, S.C., on Aug. 8, three days after striking Florida's Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane. It was forecast to unleash more heavy rain across portions of the Carolinas through Aug. 8 before moving into the mid-Atlantic states and the Northeast as a tropical depression. Flood watches issued by the National Weather Service extended to Pennsylvania and New York.

John Policastro, president of the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association, said late in the morning on Aug. 8 that "heavy rainfall is starting and will persist" through the day, with potential torrential downpours and localized flash flooding expected. Policastro said the storm has downed trees in Raleigh. He also expects increasing power outages as the storm progresses.

Nearly 118,000 customers in North Carolina were without power as of 1:57 p.m. on Aug. 8, according to PowerOutage.us.

The storm spawned an apparent tornado on Aug. 8 that damaged several houses, a church and a school in east-central North Carolina. Policastro said he checked in with dealerships in that area and "they seemed to fare OK."

Reuters contributed to this report.