The Latest: Debby Shuts Off Power to Hundreds of Thousands of People in Florida, Georgia

Here are the latest:

A 13-year-old boy died Monday morning after a tree fell on a mobile home located southwest of Gainesville, Florida, according to the Levy County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities reported other deaths as Debby moved inland.

A truck driver died Monday morning after losing control of his trailer and crashing into a concrete wall along a wet Interstate 75 in the Tampa area.

East of Steinhatchee, a small community in northern Florida near where the storm made landfall, a 38-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy died Sunday night when the car she was driving on a wet road crashed. into a median and then rolled off the road. A 14-year-old boy who was a passenger was hospitalized with serious injuries, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Debby weakened and became a tropical storm with strong winds hovering around 70 mph. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm was moving slowly north-northeast and was expected to slow as it turned east. Debby made landfall as a hurricane in Florida’s Big Bend region, one of the least populated areas in the state.

Meteorologists still warn that heavy rain could generate catastrophic flooding in Florida, South Carolina and Georgia.

Forecasters said the storm was expected to be the biggest threat to Florida, with 6 to 10 feet of flooding forecast in part of the zone. near the Grande Curva.

“This part of the coast is a very vulnerable place,” John Cangialosi, a hurricane expert at the National Hurricane Center, said Monday. Some areas, including Sarasota and Manatee counties, have already received 10 to 12 inches of rain.

In Georgia, the National Weather Service predicts major flooding on a few rivers: the Canoochee River near Claxton, the Ohoopee River near Reidsville and the Ogeechee River near Eden. All of these rivers were below flood stage on Monday, but their water levels could more than double by the end of the week.

More than 350,000 customers they were without power in Florida and Georgia on Monday, according to PowerOutage.com.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said about 17,000 linemen are working to restore power. He warned residents in affected areas to wait until conditions are safe.

“When the water rises, when there are streets that could be flooded, that’s dangerous,” DeSantis said. “Don’t try to get past it. We do not want to see the number of traffic deaths increasing. Don’t tempt fate, don’t try to pass through these flooded streets.”