Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Dawn Warrick's last name.
Less than 12 hours after the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down in Marshallton, all of Delaware and parts of neighboring states are under another tornado watch.
The severe weather comes as the remnants of Debby − now downgraded to a post-tropical storm − bear down on the area. Delawareans should expect more wind and rain on Friday, with National Weather Service meteorologist Alex Staarmann saying conditions are "favorable" for the development of tornadoes.
Friday's weather will inevitably make cleanup from Thursday's twister more challenging. Here's a look at how residents in affected areas are managing.
DELAWARE STORM PHOTOS AND VIDEOS: Share your great shots with us
'Get home fast:' Mother warns daughters after receiving worried call
Megan O’Donnell Clements was far from the tornado on Thursday evening, busy safeguarding their family's boat in Perryville during the storm.
Then her phone rang.
It was 7:10 p.m., and Clements’ twin teen daughters called from the car. Both work at the same restaurant, Cafe Napoli in Kirkwood Plaza.
It was getting a bit windy, they told their mother, as they began to head home from work. One sister thought she saw the clouds beginning to swirl and gather, the pair later told their mother. The other thought it must just be heavy wind, a trick of the light.
Get home fast, Clements told her daughters. Get home safe.
The next time the girls called their mother, they were in tears. Less than a minute later, as they drove down Farrand Drive toward home, a tree branch snapped in the wind and hit the hood of their car, snapping a power line along the way.
Shaken, they’d turned the car around to go back to their work. That’s when they saw a chunk of the roof come off the Acme. She told them to get inside the restaurant for safety.
But they stayed frozen to their seats in the car as the tornado touched down − right where they would have been driving if they’d kept heading home, Clements said. The tornado then came raging across the Kirkwood Plaza parking lot where the teens sat in the car.
But the tornado passed just to the east.
Finally, Clements said, the danger passed. Her daughters were safe. Their grandfather, who ate at Cafe Napoli that night, was also safe.
It was another near miss in their lives. Seven years before, Clements had also been present at the deadly Las Vegas concert shooting in 2017 that left 60 dead, more than 1,000 injured and Clements’ life forever changed.
She wrote a book last year, “Grief, Grace and Gratitude,” about how she learned to heal after that near-death experience. She was so close to many who weren’t as fortunate.
She said she'd be glad if the near-misses stopped here. As a reminder of its force, the wind on Thursday had severed her house's power, ripping a tree from her lawn and laying it down flat, as if a hand had come down from the sky to pluck it.
TRACKING THE STORM:Debby continues to threaten Delaware.
Clements is grateful her family again escaped unscathed.
“We’re batting a thousand,” she said, laughing with relief.
— Matthew Korfhage
Woman describes being inside Acme as tornado hit
Julie Hendrix was looking for some specific grocery items after taking her dog to the vet Thursday evening. Her intent was to go to Wegmans, but she decided to pop into the Acme on Kirkwood Highway near her Limestone Acres neighborhood to see if they had what she needed.
She was almost finished with her shopping but headed to the back of the store to grab one more thing when mother nature temporarily upended her tasks.
"It sounded like a truck hit the front of the building," she said, recounting that ceiling tiles falling inside the store.
Her phone had sent her a flash flood warning, but no tornado alert. Her housemate texted her right after asking if she was okay.
"I said, 'I'm okay but I think the walls are collapsing,'" she said. "Icouldn't tell what was going on because the lights had gone out right after that."
Employees hurried people to the back of the store where she saw two women crying.
They told her a tornado had just touched down in the parking lot. She quickly thought about her dog hanging out in the car outside.
"I ran out to the parking lot to see if he was OK," she said. "He was sitting in the car like nothing happened."
Then her mind went back to the food she had picked out. Back inside, everyone was looking at the ceiling tiles on the floor and employees were saying they had to close the store.
"I'm just looking at my cart and I looked at the self checkout and the lights on and it says 'open.' I'm like, well (expletive), I'm just going to check out real quick," she said with a laugh.
So, she rang up her items and bolted.
"It was, you know, sort of exciting, not super exciting," she said.
Hendrix said she had experienced a tornado somewhat close-up in the past and her work in healthcare has taught her to calmly look at what's going on and not panic.
"It was an interesting trip to Acme," she said.
She said the experience shows people need to take tornado warnings seriously when they receive them. It also made her think about growing up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and how tornadoes were never a part of her life growing up, but now are "a regular part of our lives" both there and here in Delaware.
"Anybody that believes that the climate has not changed is nuts," she said.
— Xerxes Wilson
Weather in Bethany Beach, Delaware coastal areas
Though the storm is moving out of the area, clouds hang over the Delaware beaches.
Still, vacationers are still out and about in Bethany, Rehoboth and Dewey beaches.
Like the rest of Delaware, the beaches are under a tornado watch until 2 p.m.
WATCH LIVE:Here's what's going on at beaches from Maryland to NY, including Delaware
Multiple telephone poles down in one New Castle County neighborhood
The tornado ripped through the backyards of homes on W. Robino and Sherwood drives on Thursday evening. Downed trees and wires sprawled across the properties, but fortunately, no one was injured.
Cleanup crews chopped up the debris as residents began the cleanup process.
Dawn Warrick said she and her fiancé received the NWS warning and were warned by her son, who is a firefighter, about the incoming storm.
“I guess it touched down that way and just went right through all of our backyards, and it pulled down eight of our telephone poles,” Warrick said.
Warrick said her friend was in a car in the neighborhood, but she wasn't hurt.
— Shane Brennan
What to do during a tornado warning
If a tornado warning is issued, move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy buildingand avoid windows, doors and outside walls.
If you are in a mobile home, outdoors or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris. Do not go to an overpass or bridge. A low, flat location is safer, reportsReady.gov.
More tornado safety tips include:
- Use your arms to protect your head and neck.
- Make plans to go to a public shelter if you cannot stay at home.
- Pay attention to weather reports during a tornado watch and sign up for your community or state’s warning system.
- Include your pets in your emergency plans. Plan in advance for pet resources and accommodation in the event of an emergency.
- Do not try to outrun a tornado in a vehicle.
After a tornado, you should take these precautions:
- Stay clear of broken utility lines or fallen power lines.
- Pay attention to emergency communication channels and local authorities for updates and safety information.
- Contact your healthcare provider if you need medical attention.
- Wear appropriate clothing during cleanup. Long pants and tops, work gloves, face masks or other coverings and thick-soled shoes are all items that can help keep you safe.
Acme pharmacy open despite store damage
Acme's pharmacy remained open Friday, despite the remainder of the store being closed.
The tornado damaged the store's roof and some of the ceiling inside the building.
Workers could be seen on the roof of the store Friday morning and a blue tarp was draped near a bucket truck.
Glass door slams, shatters in tornado
Ernest Goldner lives on Owen Drive, up the street from the Acme that was hit by the tornado. The 40-year-old said he was woken up by the sound of his glass door slamming and shattering.
His property sustained damage with a few downed wires, shingles blown off of the roof and tree limbs taken down, along with the shattered door.
“I just didn’t know what was going on, I just thought I heard some noises, and then back to bed and sleep,” Goldner said.
— Shane Brennan
What's the difference between a tornado watch and a tornado warning?
A tornado watch means tornadoes are possible in the area. If you are in a region under a tornado watch, you should keep an eye on your surroundings, discuss emergency plans and check your supplies and safe room,according to the weather service.
Be ready to act quickly if the tornado watch progresses to a tornado warning or you suspect one is approaching. Tornado watch areas are typically large and cover numerous counties or states.
A tornado warning means take action immediately. When a warning is issued, a tornado has been sighted or indicated by a weather radar or trained spotter and there is imminent danger to property and life in the area.
Tornado warnings typically encompass a smaller area than a tornado watch, usually a city or a small county that may be impacted by the identified tornado.
READ:What's the difference between a tornado watch vs. warning? Find out and ways to keep safe
Acme closed due to tornado damage: 'Sounded like a truck'
At Kirkwood Plaza in Milltown, the Acme Markets grocery store was closed Friday morning after apparent damage to its roof as the tornado rolled in across the parking lot.
Acme spokespeople declined or didn't respond to requests for comment about the extent of building damage. Parking lot shopping cart corrals and parts of the supermarket's roof appeared to be mangled Thursday night, and social media reports from shoppers showed ceiling tiles falling in after a loud boom.
"Sounded like a truck hit the building. Power out briefly. Damage in the parking lot and to the roof of the store," wrote one X user who was apparently inside the business.
STORM BRINGS RAIN, TOO:Wondering how much rain Tropical Storm Debby brought to Delaware on Thursday, Aug. 8?
Some neighboring businesses remained unscathed, however.
At Italian restaurant Cafe Napoli two doors down from the Acme, manager Tim Widdoes said his restaurant will be open for business Friday after no more than a light flicker as the tornado passed. But there were some frightening moments as staff saw the tornado in the parking lot barreling toward them.
"There was a gentleman at the front of the restaurant coming out, and he said, 'There's a tornado,'" Widdoes remembered. The restaurant staff thought the man was kidding, but he doubled down.
"No, I'm serious,' the customer said. "Take cover, take cover!"
Staff and customers took refuge in the back of the restaurant as the tornado chose its path across the top of the Acme store, Widdoes said, leaving Cafe Napoli all but untouched.
"It was scary, and there were some hearts pumping," Widdoes said. "But we were fortunate enough to not have any real damage, and we stayed open. A lot of people ended up coming in."
— Matthew Korfhage
Resident: Tornado sounded like 'a train was coming down the street'
Charles McKiernan, 72, said he was watching television when the tornado came through. A tree was uprooted on his property, but he said he is lucky there was no other damage. There was damage to overhead wires over his house, which crews were in the process of cleaning up on Friday morning.
“I saw it come through a couple of times on the television, and then honestly it sounded like when the tornado blew through like a train was coming down the street,” McKiernan said.
McKiernan said his power was out overnight and came back at 5 a.m. Friday morning.
— Shane Brennan
National Weather Service: Conditions 'favorable' for Friday tornado
Staarmann said there's certainly no guarantee that a tornado will form Friday, nor is the National Weather Service "expecting or warning" that there will be a twister. However, "the environment is favorable" for the development of one.
"Keep an eye on the weather, be alert for changing conditions and be prepared to take shelter if a tornado warning is issued," he said.
READ:Tornado confirmed near Kirkwood Highway. Delaware under tornado watch Friday
Staarmann added that the severe weather is a result of Debby. He said the storm is transitioning to what's considered an extra tropical cyclone, which "is pretty typical for these systems when they come up this far north."
"Basically what that means is, the more typical dynamics in the atmosphere are causing it to maintain its strength somewhat, bringing the heavy rain and tornadoes and all that to the area," Staarmann said.
That said, Staarmann noted that the main impacts of the storm should move out of Delaware and surrounding states by Friday night − possibly as early as 6 p.m. or as late as 10 p.m.
"Heading into the overnight, aside from any lingering like river flooding ... it should be a pretty nice weekend, actually," the meteorologist said.
'I'm not afraid of a little bit of wind'
Edward Gardner, 65, lives in a Milltown neighborhood behind the Kirkwood Acme with his fiancée. The grocery store was hit by the twister.
Gardner said a large tree fell in his front yard. He said he got the tornado warning right as the wind began to blow hard.
The tornado took down two trees but did not damage the house. He said he was lucky.“I was outside looking,” Gardner said. “I’m not afraid of a little bit of wind, but I didn’t realize it was actually a tornado.”
— Shane Brennan
Power outages continue across New Castle County
In the wake of Thursday's tornado, parts of New Castle County − especially around Marshallton and Pike Creek − remain without power.
As of 9:15 a.m., Delmarva Power's outage map showed 49 active outages with 600 or so people affected in both Delaware and Maryland.
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