Hurricane Debby — the fourth named storm of the season — made landfall along the Big Bend coast of Florida as a Category 1 storm before weakening to a tropical storm Monday morning. At 7 a.m., it came ashore near Steinhatchee with maximum sustained winds of 80mph, and by 11 a.m., Debby had weakened to a tropical storm.
How Debby is affecting Florida
A hurricane warning was issued for most of the state’s Gulf Coast, from Yankeetown to Indian Pass. Gov. Ron DeSantis had also declared a state of emergency for 61 counties expected to be affected by the storm, with the National Guard activating 3,000 guard members.
The National Hurricane Center said to expect life-threatening storm surges in portions of Florida and major flooding across southeastern states during the next few days. The storm has already unloaded a large amount of rain, with more than 10 inches reported in some areas and more than 280,000 customers without power by 11 a.m., according to Poweroutage.us.
Where is the storm headed to next?
Debby is moving northeast at with sustained winds of 70 mph and is expected to impact Georgia and South Carolina. Forecasters say it will bring potentially historic rainfall amounts and areas of catastrophic flooding, with some areas seeing as much as 30 inches of rain through Friday.
As always, stay safe and visit hurricanes.gov for updates as they occur. You can also follow the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center on X, here.