Hurricane Debby Makes Landfall in Florida, Tornadoes Threaten

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(TNS) — Hurricane Debby made landfall on Florida’s Big Bend early Monday before dropping back to a tropical storm as it moved inland, according to the National Hurricane Center. At least four people have died from either fallen trees or car crashes since the storm moved up through the Gulf of Mexico, lashing the state with wind and rain over the weekend. Its bands continue to bring a threat of tornadoes.

What had been a tropical storm most of Sunday formed into a Category 1 hurricane before midnight, and continued to intensify overnight making landfall near Steinhatchee with sustained winds of 80 mph around 7 a.m.

The NHC had reported a wind gust at the time of 95 mph at a weather station on nearby Horseshoe Beach. The path fell just 15 miles south of where Hurricane Idalia struck in 2023.

As of 2 p.m. the NHC reported Debby, which fell back to a tropical storm by 11 a.m., had further reduced in intensity as it moved inland with 65 mph sustained winds about 10 miles northwest of Live Oak, Florida moving north-northeast at 7 mph. Debby’s tropical-storm-force winds extend out 140 miles from the storm’s center. A gust of 54 mph was recorded before 11 a.m. in Live Oak, and a gust of 48 mph in Jacksonville.

The National Weather Service also issued an updated tornado watch Monday morning that includes Orange, Lake, Seminole, Osceola, Polk and Volusia plus Gulf Coast and North Florida counties that runs through 4 p.m. The outer bands to the east of Debby’s center had spawned several tornado warnings across Florida overnight as the storm churned north.

South Orange County including Disney World fell under a tornado warning on Monday, indicated by radar, but no funnel cloud was spotted.

A late Sunday tornado warning was issued in Cocoa, and the winds flipped five campers on their side at an RV park, according to Orlando Sentinel news partner Spectrum News 13. At least one resident was transported to an area hospital.

The storm had already sent storm surge to flood the coastal areas of cities from Fort Myers north to the Panhandle while much of the west coast endured power outages, downed trees and some structural damage as the storm progressed north on Sunday.

Images 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 pace,” the post said.

While wind and storm surge are an immediate threat, flooding remains a major concern in the days to come, said Gov. Ron DeSantis during a Monday morning press conference from the Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee. He is slated to give another press conference at 3:30 p.m.

“This storm has produced and will likely produce significant flooding events from Sarasota-Bradenton area all the way up to northern Florida,” he said. “There’s a threat, ongoing threat of that, over the ensuing days.”

He urged Floridians to remain inside.

“Don’t go out into the storm. Don’t drive on the roads, particularly when they’re flooded,” he said noting some traffic accidents already across the state that might be blamed on the hurricane when an official death toll is taken.

One semi truck, the driver of which was found dead inside the cab of the vehicle, had veered off a bridge into the water off Interstate 75 in Tampa, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. FHP also reported another two-car crash in Dixie County on Sunday night that left two people dead and one person hospitalized stating witnesses said it looked like one of the vehicles had lost control because of a wet roadway and inclement weather.

“When you have flood situations, that is the number one way where we will see fatalities is by people being out on the roads and hydroplaning or having other problems,” he said. “So do not go walk or drive into flooded roadways. There are hazards there. They’re dangerous. We want everybody to be safe.”

Another death was reported by the Levy County Sheriff’s Office, which confirmed a 13-year-old boy had been crushed inside a mobile home that was hit by a fallen tree in Fanning Springs on Monday morning.

The governor had declared a state of emergency last week to most of the state’s counties, and President Biden approved the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts.

The Florida National Guard has 3,000 service members set for the response efforts along Florida State Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and county emergency response personnel with an arsenal of high-water vehicles and other emergency response equipment.

It’s the fourth hurricane to hit Florida in August since 2000 following Hurricane Charley in 2004, Katrina in 2005 and last year’s Hurricane Idalia.

Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said some places have already seen 10 to 12 inches in southwest Florida with rivers and streams expected to go into flood stage.

“This is going to be an event that is going to be probably here for the next five to seven days, maybe as long as 10 days depending on how much rainfall we get, so we are not running anywhere,” he said. “We are staying put and we’re going to make sure that we’re here to respond.”

He said first responders have access to 600,000 gallons of fuel across six fuel depots while the state has 850 debris disaster management sites for cleanup.

In an effort to stem any post-storm deaths and injuries, he urged those with damage on their homes to not to try and take care of it themselves.

“Please do not get up on a ladder. Do not try to put a tarp on a roof. Do not try to cut a limb. We have volunteer organizations that will come and help you with that,” Guthrie said asking people instead contact their local emergency management agency. “We will make sure somebody comes and helps you on your property. Do not risk yourself do not risk injury. We will come and help you.”

Storm surge was forecast to raise water levels from 6-10 feet on parts of Big Bend closest to the storm’s center. A tide station in Cedar Key on Monday morning recorded water level at 4.6 feet above normal, the NHC reported.

A tropical storm warning remains in effect for the Florida coast from Indian Pass down to Aripeka, which is north of Tampa, and on the east coast from St. Augustine north to the South Santee River, South Carolina. A storm surge warning is in effect from the Florida coast from Aripeka north to the Aucilla River and on the Georgia and South Carolina coast from the mouth of the St. Mary’s River to the South Santee River.

“A gradual decrease in forward speed with a turn toward the east is expected later today and Tuesday,” said NHC senior hurricane specialist Richard Pasch. “On the forecast track, the center will move across southeastern Georgia tonight and Tuesday, and move offshore of the South Carolina coast by late Tuesday and Wednesday. … Additional weakening is forecast through late Tuesday. Some re-strengthening is possible on Wednesday.”

As of 2 p.m., nearly 270,000 customers are without power in Florida, down from a high of more than 300,000, and close to 25,000 in Georgia, according to poweroutage.us, Nearly 21,000 remain without power in Pinellas County, which was lashed all day Sunday by bands from the storm. In Central Florida, more than 7,000 were without power in Lake County down from more than 20,000 on Monday morning.

DeSantis said power issues are not as bad as Idalia and nowhere near what was seen with 2022’s Hurricane Ian.

“We have a lot of restoration personnel ready to go to get it back on,” he said. “We do have 17,000 linemen that are ready to assist with restoring power immediately and I know a lot of the utilities have already restored hundreds of thousands of folks starting yesterday.”

Lake County was under a flood watch having already seen from 1-2.5 inches of rain and up to 3 more inches forecast through 8 a.m. Monday.

The NWS said additional rainfall of 2-5 inches was expected especially northwest of Interstate 4, with areas southeast to get up to 2 inches. Localized flooding is possible, the NWS said.

The system had grown since becoming Tropical Depression Four late Friday and developing into a tropical storm on Saturday.

The NHC expects rainfall from 6 to 12 inches with some areas getting up to 18 inches across portions of Florida, and up to 30 inches across parts of the Southeast U.S. this weekend and through Thursday morning that could cause flash and urban flooding as well as some isolated river flooding.

“This potentially historic rainfall will likely result in areas of catastrophic flooding,” NHC forecasters said.

Also on Sunday, the NHC began tracking a new system with a chance to form into the season’s next tropical depression or storm.

As of the NHC’s 8 a.m. tropical outlook Monday, the tropical wave was located near the Caribbean’s Windward Islands with disorganized showers and thunderstorms.

“Any development of this system should be slow to occur during the next couple of days while the system moves westward over the eastern Caribbean Sea,” forecasters said. “Environmental conditions are expected to become more conducive for development later this week as the system moves across the western Caribbean Sea or the southern Gulf of Mexico.”

The NHC gives it a 10% chance to develop in the next two days and 30% in the next seven days.

If it were to form into a named storm, it could take on the name Tropical Storm Ernesto.

Tropical Storm Debby became the fourth official system of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. The others were Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Chris.

Hurricane season runs from June 1-Nov. 30, but the height of storm formation runs from mid-August into October.