MIAMI — Tropical Storm Debby rapidly strengthened on Sunday and was expected to become a hurricane through the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida, threatening devastating flooding along the southeastern Atlantic coast later in the week.
The storm is expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane before making landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region on Monday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
From there, the storm is expected to move east across northern Florida and then stall over coastal Georgia and South Carolina, bringing the potential for “historic rainfall and potentially catastrophic flooding” that could begin early Tuesday and last through Friday, said Dwight Koehn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Charleston, South Carolina.
The impacts of the flooding could be especially severe in low-lying areas near the coast, including Savannah, Georgia, Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina, he said.
The hurricane center said in an update posted at 11 a.m. Sunday that Debby was located about 130 miles (210 kilometers) west-southwest of Tampa, Florida, and about 160 miles (260 kilometers) south-southwest of Cedar Key, Florida. The storm was moving north-northwest at 13 mph (21 km/h) with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (105 km/h), up from 50 mph (80) just a few hours ago.
“I would urge all Floridians to be aware that we have a hurricane coming through the state, probably a Category 1, but it could be a little bit more powerful than that,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a briefing Sunday morning.
“But we’re definitely going to see a lot of rainfall. We’re going to see a lot of saturation. We’re going to see flooding,” he said. “There’s going to be power outages as well.”
DeSantis said for the first time, flood control systems are being installed at utilities to minimize the risk of power outages due to flooding.
“We think this will help alleviate some of the power outages,” DeSantis said.
Meanwhile, wind and thunderstorms have spread across a wide area, including South Florida, the Florida Keys and the Bahamas.
Debby is the fourth the storm mentioned of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season after Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Beryl, and Tropical Storm Chris, all of which formed in June.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami predicted the system would strengthen as it moves off the southwest coast of Florida, where waters are extremely warm.
A hurricane warning was issued for parts of the Big Bend and the Florida Panhandle, while tropical storm warnings were issued for the west coast of Florida, the southern Florida Keys, and the Dry Tortugas. A tropical storm warning extended further west into the Panhandle. A warning means that storm conditions are expected within 36 hours, while a caution means they are possible within 48 hours.
Tropical storms and hurricanes could cause river flooding and overload drainage systems and canals. Forecasters warned of 6 to 12 inches (150 mm to 300 mm) of rain, and up to 18 inches (450 mm) in isolated areas, which could cause “locally significant” flash and urban flooding. Forecasters also warned of moderate flooding for some rivers along Florida’s west coast.
In flat Florida, flooding is expected even on sunny days. The storm is forecast to produce 2 to 4 feet (0.6 to 1.2 meters) of surge along most of the Gulf Coast, including Tampa Bay, with a storm surge of up to 7 feet (2.1 meters) north of there in the sparsely populated Big Bend region.
Forecasters warned of “a risk of life-threatening storm surge flooding” in a region that includes Hernando Beach, Crystal River, Steinhatchee and Cedar Key. Officials in Citrus and Levy counties ordered mandatory evacuations of coastal areas, while those in Hernando, Manatee, Pasco and Taylor counties called for voluntary evacuations. Shelters were opened in those and several other counties.
Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast estimates that 21,000 people live in his county’s evacuation zone. Officials rescued 73 people from storm surge flooding during Hurricane Idalia last year. Prendergast said by phone that he hopes Debby won’t repeat itself.
“Once the storm surge comes, we simply won’t have enough responders in our agency and among the other responders in the region to rescue everyone who needs to be rescued,” he said.
DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 61 of Florida’s 67 counties, activating 3,000 National Guard members. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared his own state of emergency on Saturday.
The White House said federal and Florida officials were in contact and that FEMA had “pre-positioned” resources, including water and food.
In Tampa alone, authorities distributed more than 30,000 sandbags as flood barriers.
“Our storm drains have been cleared. Our generators are all checked and full. We are doing everything we need to do to be prepared for a tropical storm,” said Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.
Crews on Friday removed floating cranes from a bridge construction project over Tampa Bay, lashing together and anchoring 74 barges and 24 floating cranes, project engineer Marianne Brinson told the Tampa Bay TimesThe crews also placed cranes on their sides on the land.
For some, the name Debby brings back bad memories of a tropical storm of the same name in 2012 that caused $250 million in losses and eight deaths, including seven in the Sunshine State. That storm dumped torrential rain, including an astronomical 29 inches (730 mm) south of Tallahassee.
