Hurricane Debby makes landfall in Florida as Category 1 storm and threatens catastrophic flooding

Hurricane Debby reached the Big Bend coast of Florida early Monday bringing with it the potential for recordsetting rains catastrophic flooding and lifethreatening storm surge as it moves slowly across the northern part of the state before stalling over the coastal regions of Georgia and South CarolinaThe storm made landfall as a Category 1 storm near Steinhatchee a tiny community in northern Florida of less than 1000 residents on Floridas Gulf Coast It had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph 129 kph and was moving northeast at 10 mph 17 kph the National Hurricane Center in Miami saidThe storm made landfall in one of the least populated areas of Florida but forecasters warned heavy rain could spawn catastrophic flooding in Florida South Carolina and Georgia Nearly 214000 customers were without power in Florida on Monday morning according to PowerOutagecomA tornado watch also was in effect for parts of Florida and Georgia on MondayldquoRight now we are to trying to secure everything from floating away said Sheryl Horne whose family owns the Shell Island Fish Camp along the Wakulla River in St Marks Florida where some customers moved their boats inlandThe sparsely populated Big Bend region in the Florida Panhandle also was hit last year by Hurricane Idalia which made landfall as a Category 3 hurricaneldquoI am used to storms and Im used to cleaning up after stormsrdquo Horne saidThe National Weather Service in Tallahassee said Monday morning that heavy flooding was the biggest concern in the Big Bend regions with storm surge expected across Apalachee BayIn Marion County which is inland and south of Gainesville sheriffs officials noted in a Facebook post on Monday that crews were responding to reports of downed power lines and trees that have fallen on roadways and homesImages posted on social media by Cedar Key Fire Rescue early Monday showed floodwaters rising along the streets of the city located south of where the storm made landfall Water was coming in at a pretty heavy pacerdquo the post saidDebby was expected to move eastward over northern Florida and then stall over the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina thrashing the region with potential recordsetting rains totaling up to 30 inches 76 centimeters beginning TuesdayOfficials also warned of lifethreatening storm surge along Floridas Gulf Coast with 6 to 10 feet 18 to 3 meters of inundation expected Monday between the Ochlockonee and Suwannee riversldquoTheres some really amazing rainfall totals being forecast and amazing in a bad wayrdquo Michael Brennan director of the hurricane center said at a briefing ldquoThat would be recordbreaking rainfall associated with a tropical cyclone for both the states of Georgia and South Carolina if we got up to the 30inch levelrdquo Flooding could last through Friday and is expected to be especially severe in lowlying areas near the coast including Savannah Georgia Hilton Head South Carolina and Charleston South Carolina North Carolina officials were monitoring the storms progressOfficials in Savannah said the area could see a months worth of rain in four days if the system stalls over the regionldquoThis is going to a significant stormrdquo Savannah Mayor Van R Johnson said during a press conferenceDebbys outer bands earlier grazed the west coast of Florida flooding streets and bringing power outages Sarasota County officials said most roadways on Siesta Key a barrier island off the coast of Sarasota were underwaterAt a briefing Sunday afternoon Florida Gov Ron DeSantis warned the storm could lead to ldquoreally really significant flooding that will happen in North Central Floridardquo The storm would follow a similar track to Hurricane Idalia but would ldquobe much wetter We are going to see much more inundation he saidDebby is the fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season after Tropical Storm Alberto Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Chris all of which formed in June In the Eastern Pacific tropical storms Carlotta Daniel and Emilia all churned over the ocean but they werent threatening landResidents businesses prepare for flooding Residents in Steinhatchee Florida which flooded during Hurricane Idalia spent Sunday moving items to higher ground to prepare for DebbyldquoIve been here 29 years This isnt the first time Ive done it Do you get used to it Nordquo Mark Reblin said as he moved items out of the liquor store he ownsEmployees of Savannah Canoe and Kayak in Georgia said they were busy tying down their watercrafts laying sandbags and raising equipment off the ground Mayme Bouy the store manager said she wasnt too concerned about the forecast calling for a potential historic rain eventldquoBut we do have some high tides this week so if the rain is happening around then that could be badrdquo Bouy added ldquoId rather play it safe than sorryrdquo Governors declared emergencies ahead of landfall DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 61 of Floridas 67 counties with the National Guard activating 3000 guard members Utility crews from in and out of state were ready to restore power after the storm he said in a post on XIn Tampa alone officials gave out more than 30000 sandbags to barricade against floodingGeorgia Gov Brian Kemp and South Carolina Gov Henry McMaster made their own emergency declarationsNortheast coast also preparing for storm conditions Emergency managers in New England and New York were monitoring the path of the storm for the possibility of remnants striking their states Northeast states including New York and Vermont have been hit by heavy rain and thunderstorms in recent weeks and were still coping with flooding and saturated groundThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever