Flash Flood Warnings Up For Eastern Seaboard

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NEW YORK (CBSMiami) - Around 80-thousand people who live downstream from a Virginia dam have evacuated as officials keep watch, fearful it could fail at any time.

The area around Lynchburg got six inches of rain in a matter of hours and more rain is in the forecast. The rain has turned parks into ponds, chewed up roads and left drivers stranded in flood water.

The National Weather Service has posted flash flood watches and warnings from Georgia to Vermont.

In Charlottesville, Virginia, a tornado with wind speeds reaching 70 miles an hour ripped up trees and damaged a high school. In North Carolina, heavy rain flooded streets in Charlotte and caused a sinkhole near Greensboro.

"My whole backyard, everything was like a lake. It was flooded so bad to the point where, when the water did come down I found a fish in my driveway," said Kipp Teague.

In New York City, many residents woke to tornado warnings in the middle of the night. One area in Queens took the brunt of the damage with downed trees and power lines.

Crews are cleaning up the damage, but the area is in the path of more storms on Friday.

Officials in Virginia have told the evacuated residents who live below the dam that hey may be able to return to their homes on Saturday if the dam holds.