TAMPA, Fla. – Hurricane Debby made landfall in northern Florida on Monday as a Category 1 storm.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Debby has maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (129 kph). The storm hit Steinhatchee, a small community of fewer than 1,000 residents in the Big Bend area on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Forecasters warned that heavy rain could trigger catastrophic flooding in Florida, South Carolina and Georgia.
Debby is the fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. The previous AP story follows below.
The center of Hurricane Debby is expected to make landfall in Florida’s Big Bend on Monday morning, bringing possible record rainfall, catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surge as it slowly moves through the northern part of the state before stopping in the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina.
Debby was located about 60 miles northwest of Cedar Key, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. The storm it was moving northeast at 11 mph, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
Forecasters warned that large amounts of rain from Debby could generate catastrophic flooding in Florida, South Carolina and Georgia.
The storm it was expected to make landfall Monday morning in the Big Bend area of Florida, north of Tampa, the hurricane center said. A tornado warning was also in effect for parts of Florida and Georgia on Monday.
“Right now we have to try to keep everything from floating,” said Sheryl Horne, whose family owns Shell Island Fish Camp along the Wakulla River in St. Marks, Florida, where some customers have taken their boats inland.
The sparsely populated Big Bend region in the Florida Panhandle was also hit last year by Hurricane Idáliawhich made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane.
“I’m used to storms and cleaning up after storms,” Horne said.
The National Weather Service in Tallahassee said Monday morning that severe flooding was the biggest concern in the Big Bend regions, with thunderstorms expected in Apalachee Bay.
In Marion County, which is inland and south of Gainesville, sheriff’s officials noted in a Facebook post Monday that crews were responding to reports of downed power lines and trees falling onto roads and homes.
Debby was expected to move east over northern Florida and then stall over the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina, devastating the region with potential record rainfall totaling up to 30 inches (76 centimeters) starting Tuesday. .
Authorities also warned of a life-threatening storm surge along Florida’s Gulf Coast, with 6 to 10 feet of flooding expected Monday between the Ochlockonee and Suwannee rivers.
“There are some really surprising rainfall totals being forecast, and surprising in a bad way,” hurricane center director Michael Brennan said in a briefing. “It would be record precipitation associated with a tropical cyclone for both the states of Georgia and South Carolina if we reached the 30-inch level.”
Flooding could last through Friday and is expected to be especially severe in low-lying areas near the coast, including Savannah, Georgia; Hilton Head, South Carolina; and Charleston, South Carolina. North Carolina officials were monitoring the storm’s progress.
Officials in Savannah said the area could receive a month’s worth of rain in four days if the system stalls there.
“This will be a significant storm,” said the mayor of Savannah, Van. R. Johnson said during a press conference.
Debby’s outer swaths hit Florida’s west coast, flooding streets and triggering power outages. Sarasota County officials said most roads on Siesta Key, a barrier island off the coast of Sarasota, were underwater. The hurricane center predicted the system would strengthen as it curved off the southwest coast of Florida, where the water has been extremely warm.
At a press conference Sunday afternoon, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned that the storm could lead to “very, very significant flooding that will happen in north-central Florida.”
The storm would follow a similar path to Hurricane Idalia, but “it would be much wetter. We’re going to see a lot more flooding,” he said.
Debby is the fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, after Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Chris, all formed in June. In the Eastern Pacific, tropical storms Carlotta, Daniel, and Emilia churned over the ocean but did not threaten land.
Residents of Steinhatchee, Florida, which flooded during Hurricane Idalia, spent Sunday moving items to higher ground to prepare for Debby.
“I’ve been here for 29 years. This isn’t the first time I’ve done this. Do you get used to it? No,” Mark Reblin said as he removed items from the liquor store he owns.
Employees at Savannah Canoe and Kayak in Georgia said they were busy tying down their vessels, placing sandbags and lifting equipment off the ground. Mayme Bouy, store manager, said she wasn’t too concerned about the forecast of a possible historic rain event.
“But we have some high tides this week, so if it rains then that could be bad,” Bouy added. “I’d rather play it safe than sorry.”
DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 61 of Florida’s 67 counties, with the National Guard activating 3,000 guard members. Utility crews from within and outside the state were ready to restore power after the storm, he said in an X post.
In Tampa alone, authorities distributed more than 30,000 sandbags to make flood barricades.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster made their own emergency declarations.
Emergency managers in New England and New York were monitoring the storm’s path for the possibility of remnants reaching their states. Northeastern states, including New York and Vermont, had been hit by heavy rains and thunderstorms in recent weeks and were still dealing with flooding and saturated terrain.
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This story has been updated to correct that the Big Bend area is north of Tampa, not south of Tampa.
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Chandler reported from Montgomery, Alabama. Jake Offenhartz contributed from New York.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
