Hurricane Debby made its landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast late Sunday, bringing historic rainfall and severe flooding that prompted evacuation orders.
Due to the unusually warm Gulf of Mexico, Debby rapidly intensified into a Category 1 hurricane, the lowest intensity on the five-level scale, and is expected to make landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region around noon on Monday.
The National Hurricane Center warned that life-threatening storm surges were possible along the Florida Gulf Coast, with some areas likely to experience flooding as high as 6 to 10 ft (1.8 to 3.0 m) above ground.
The NHC said the storm will likely cause catastrophic flooding with “potentially historic heavy rainfall” as it moves northeast through Georgia and South Carolina over the next few days.
“We’re looking at potentially very, very significant flooding, particularly in north-central Florida,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at an emergency briefing on the storm Sunday.
He and NHC Deputy Director Jamie Roome stressed that Floridians should complete their final emergency preparations immediately.
The advisory said that as of 11 p.m. (2100 GMT), Debby was about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Tampa, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and was moving north at 12 mph.
As residents prepare, mandatory evacuations were ordered in part of Citrus County, Florida, while voluntary evacuations were ordered in eight other counties, according to local media.
“Take the situation seriously,” Hernando County Fire Chief and Public Safety Director Paul Hasenmeyer told reporters late Saturday. “We know the water will come up after the storm passes.”
The NHC said Debby could bring 6 to 12 inches of rain to parts of Florida and 20 to 30 inches to coastal Georgia and South Carolina before the week is over.
The governors of Georgia and South Carolina declared states of emergency ahead of the storm’s arrival.
Brennan predicted there would be “very, very heavy rainfall for a number of days” – possibly at record-breaking levels. He said there would be “serious flooding in areas that don’t normally flood.”
President Joe Biden on Sunday approved an emergency declaration for Florida, allowing federal aid to accelerate.
DeSantis has activated the state’s National Guard, and has put 3,000 military personnel on standby to help deal with the storm.