(Miami) Tropical Storm Debbywhich made landfall in Florida on Monday morning as a hurricane, has killed at least four people and threatens to cause “catastrophic flooding” in the southeastern United States.
A 13-year-old boy was killed when a tree fell on his family’s mobile home in Fanning Springs, northwest Florida, local authorities said.
Two more people died in a car accident in Dixie County after the driver “lost control due to bad weather and wet road conditions,” according to local police.
A tractor-trailer driver also died near Tampa after falling into a canal.
Debbydowngraded to a tropical storm on Monday after making landfall, is expected to cross northern Florida on Monday and then head towards southern Georgia, before reaching the coast of that state and South Carolina on Tuesday evening, according to the American Hurricane Center (NHC).
After peaking at 75 mph (120 kph), winds from the storm had slowed to 53 mph (85 kph) by evening, and are expected to continue to weaken, the NHC said. The center warned that rising seas of up to six feet (2 meters) are possible in some coastal areas.
PHOTO MARIA ALEJANDRA CARDONA, REUTERS ARCHIVES
The Hurricane Debby in Fort Myers, Florida on August 4, 2024.
“The effects of Debby “The storms are just beginning and will be felt all week along parts of the southeast coast,” warned Michael Brennan, director of the NHC.
“Historic” precipitation expected
The heart of the storm “will linger along the coast for two to three days,” resulting in “a prolonged period of extreme rainfall that could lead to catastrophic flooding” in Georgia and South Carolina, he added.
Debby made landfall Monday as a Category 1 hurricane (on a scale of 5) near Steinhatchee, a small town of about 1,000 people on Florida’s west coast on the Gulf of Mexico.
“We have seen and we will continue to see flooding in various parts of Florida,” state Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday morning. “There is an ongoing threat in the days ahead.”
As of Monday morning, he estimated the number of Floridians without power at “about 143,000.”
PHOTO DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Water blocks a section of Dodecanese Boulevard at Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks, Aug. 5, 2024.
There is a risk, according to hurricane specialist Michael Lowry, that Debby “slow down significantly by Tuesday” as it passes over land and “dumps all its rain” during the week, bringing up to 30 inches of rainfall in some places, “historic” levels that will cause “potentially catastrophic flooding.”
The NHC warned that tornadoes were also possible Monday in Florida and southern Georgia.
NHC Director Michael Brennan urged Florida residents on Sunday to “find a safe place before nightfall” and evacuation orders were issued in several counties across the state, according to local media.
PHOTO MAX CHESNES, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Hurricane Debby passes off the Tampa Bay area, Florida, on August 5, 2024.
Emergency state
President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency — a measure that releases federal funds to help local authorities — in South Carolina on Sunday, after establishing it in Florida the day before.
“The President continues to urge residents to remain vigilant and heed the warnings of local authorities,” the White House said in a statement.
The governor of Georgia has also declared a state of emergency in his state.
Debby also brought a surprise to the Florida coast: a shipment of 25 packages of cocaine, estimated by border police to be worth more than $1 million, washed up on a beach in the Keys archipelago, the islands located at the southern tip of the state – not far from the Caribbean.
In early July, the hurricane Beryl had already hit the southern United States and caused several deaths.
According to forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the hurricane season in the North Atlantic, which runs from early June to late November, is expected to be particularly turbulent this year, particularly due to the heat of the oceans, which fuels the intensity of storms and hurricanes.