A tropical depression north of Cuba on Saturday intensified into Tropical Storm Debby and is forecast to become a hurricane as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico on its way to hit the Florida coast.
The National Hurricane Center said in an update posted at 11 pm Saturday that Debby was located about 80 kilometers west-southwest of Florida’s Dry Tortugas National Park and about 415 kilometers south-southwest of Tampa. The storm was moving northwest at 22 kilometers per hour and maximum sustained winds were 75 kilometers per hour.
Winds and storm surge have spread across a wide area, including southern Florida, the Florida Keys and the Bahamas. Hurricane warnings have been issued for parts of the state’s coast, while tropical storm warnings have been issued for the Florida Keys.
Hurricane Debby is expected to bring torrential rain and coastal flooding to much of Florida’s Gulf Coast through Sunday night, and forecasters show the storm could come ashore as a hurricane on Monday and move across northern Florida into the Atlantic Ocean.
Forecasters warn that heavy rains could also fall early next week along northern Florida and the Atlantic coasts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
Debby is the fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, preceded by Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Beryl, and Tropical Storm Chris in June.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami forecasts the system will strengthen as it moves off the southwest Florida coast, where waters are very warm. Further intensification is expected later Sunday.
Hurricane warnings were issued for parts of the Big Bend and the Florida Panhandle, while tropical storm warnings were issued for the west coast of Florida, the southern Florida Keys and the Dry Tortugas. Tropical storm warnings extend further west into the Panhandle. A warning means hurricane conditions are expected within 36 hours, while a watch means they are possible within 48 hours.
Tropical storms and hurricanes can flood rivers and overwhelm drainage systems and canals. Forecasters warned of 6 to 12 inches (150 mm to 300 mm) of rain and up to 18 inches (450 mm) in isolated areas, which could cause “locally considerable” flash and urban flooding. Forecasters also warned of moderate flooding for some rivers on Florida’s west coast.
Georgia, South Carolina may see heaviest rainfall
The heaviest rainfall is expected next week along the Atlantic coast from Jacksonville, Florida, to coastal areas of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The storm is expected to slow down once it reaches land.
“We could see a stalling or a curved motion around the coastal portions of the southeastern United States,” National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said in a briefing Saturday. “So that will increase not only the risk of rainfall, but also the potential for storm surge and some gusty winds.”
Flooding is likely even on sunny days in flat Florida, and the hurricane is expected to bring waves of 2 to 4 feet (0.6 to 1.2 meters) along much of the Gulf Coast, including Tampa Bay, with a storm surge of up to 7 feet (2.1 meters) possible in the sparsely populated Big Bend region to the north.
Forecasters warned of a “risk of life-threatening storm tide flooding” in an area including Hernando Beach, Crystal River, Steinhatchee and Cedar Key. Officials in Citrus and Levy counties ordered mandatory evacuations of coastal areas, while Hernando, Manatee, Pasco and Taylor counties called for voluntary evacuations. Shelters were opened in those and some other counties.
Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast estimates that 21,000 people live in his county’s evacuation zone. Authorities rescued 73 people from storm surge flooding during last year’s Hurricane Idalia, and Prendergast said by phone that he hoped a similar incident would not happen again with Debby.
“After a storm hits, our agency and other first responders in the county just don’t have enough first responders to be able to go out there and rescue everybody that might need to be rescued,” he said.
Flood preparations continue
Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 61 of Florida’s 67 counties, with the National Guard activating 3,000 Guard members. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp declared his own state of emergency on Saturday.
The White House said federal and Florida officials are in contact, and FEMA has prepositioned resources, including water and food.
In Tampa alone, officials distributed over 30,000 sandbags for flood prevention.
“We’ve cleaned out our storm drains. We’ve checked all of our generators and filled them up. We’re doing everything we can to be prepared for a tropical storm,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said.
Christina Lothrop, general manager of the Blue Pelican Marina in Hernando Beach, a barrier island about 80 kilometres north of St. Petersburg, said the public ramp was jammed with people launching boats on Saturday.
“It’s the norm these days, which is kind of weird,” Lothrop told The Associated Press by telephone.
However, workers at his marina have been preparing since Tuesday, securing boats on racks, storing tool boxes and packing everything up.
“Right now we’re mainly doing boat tying up,” Lothrop said.
Before closing the store on Saturday, Lothrop planned to lift the computers off the floor and put sandbags and tape on the doors. Idalia flooded the store with about a foot (30 centimeters) of water.
Betty Silverman, whose home in Crystal River was under an evacuation order, said Saturday afternoon that she doubted her family would leave. Silverman’s waterfront home flooded during Idalia just as her family was moving in, ruining boxes and furniture stored in the garage. But she said the prognosis for Debby didn’t look as grim.
“We’ve lived in Florida — South Florida — our whole lives, so hurricanes aren’t really a big deal,” Silverman said.
On Friday, workers removed floating cranes from a bridge construction project in Tampa Bay, tying 74 barges and 24 floating cranes together and anchoring them, project engineer Marianne Brinson told the Tampa Bay Times. Workers also placed the cranes on their sides on land.
Pinellas County has put on hold a $5 million beach restoration project that was made necessary because of erosion from past storms.
For some, the name Debby brings back bad memories of a tropical storm of the same name in 2012, which caused $250 million in damage and eight deaths, seven of them in the Sunshine State. That storm dumped heavy rain, including an astronomical 29 inches (730 mm) south of Tallahassee.
More storms in the Pacific Ocean, but no threat to Earth
Meanwhile, in the Pacific Ocean, more than 1,200 kilometers from Mexico, Hurricane Carlotta is moving west with maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour. Carlotta began to lose strength on Saturday and is expected to weaken into a tropical storm.
Even farther west, Tropical Storm Daniel formed in the Pacific Ocean. It was more than 2,400 kilometers away from the southern tip of Baja California and was also expected to dissipate without making landfall.