There were varying levels of concern among the people I spoke to. One couple I saw loaded about 2 dozen gallons of water into their van, but for others it was just an average day at the grocery store.
RYAN: You're not preparing?
WOMAN: Haha no, no.
RYAN: What's your concern level, may I ask?
WOMAN: Not much of a concern at this point.
Debby is expected to arrive in North Carolina Thursday, and many are taking a wait and see approach to the storm. One woman I spoke to said it wasn’t a concern for her because she doesn’t live in a flood-prone area.
“I don’t live in a low-lying area where there could be flooding. It’s going to be raining and most of it is going to Raleigh anyway.”
Now that is true. Current models show the center of the storm passing through the central region, dumping somewhere between 10 and 20 inches of rain over a couple of days, and all that rain has got to go somewhere, so there is some concern among meteorologists and emergency officials of rivers flooding and the impacts that'll have after the storm passes.
Mary Ann of New Bern said her biggest worry is whether she'll get to see her grandson in the Northeast this weekend.
"I'm concerned that I wanted to fly Saturday and I don't want any storms. I want it over with."
Local officials are advising people to closely monitor the storm. Nearly every part of the region is under a moderate or high-risk of flooding. People are asked to avoid driving through flooded roads and to expect localized flooding events as well as rising rivers as Debby moves out of the area.
