A tropical storm that gathered force overnight is now set to hit Florida as a fully-fledged hurricane dubbed “Debby,” forecasters have warned.
Debby has been designated as a Category 1 hurricane by the National Weather Service, which says it will also usher in “life-threatening flooding.” The categorization is the lowest on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which goes up to Category 5, but nevertheless means that winds may hit up to 95 mph and damage trees and homes, as well causing flooding in low-lying coastal roads with storm surges well above normal tide levels. Hurricane Beryl was also a Category 1 storm by the time it hit the U.S., but killed six people in Texas and one in Louisiana.
Although the full force of the wind and rain will be felt in the Sunshine State, Georgia and South Carolina have also been warned to brace for potentially “record-breaking rainfall” of up to 30 inches, that could spark catastrophic flooding. The National Weather Service has said “life-threatening flash flooding” is expected in northeast South Carolina and southeast North Carolina.
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Debby is set to make landfall around midday on Monday in Florida’s Big Bend region, which is still recovering from last year’s Category 3 Hurricane Idalia that brought winds in excess of 130 mph.
The hurricane is expected to move eastward over northern Florida and then stall over the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina, lashing the areas with up to 30 inches of rain on Tuesday. Officials also warned of a life-threatening storm surge along Florida’s Gulf Coast, with 6 to 10 feet of inundation expected on Monday between the Ochlockonee and Suwannee rivers.
“There’s some really amazing rainfall totals being forecast—and amazing in a bad way,” Michael Brennan, director of the National Hurricane Center, said. “That would be record-breaking rainfall associated with a tropical cyclone for both the states of Georgia and South Carolina if we got up to the 30-inch level.”
The NWS has created a graphic showing the path of the storm, which can be viewed below.
Storm chasers have headed to Florida as they wait for the hurricane to hit, but have already been reporting damage caused by the steadily building winds.
Self-described “extreme meteorologist” Reed Timmer shared footage on X (formerly Twitter) of a damaged home being buffeted overnight in Dark Island.
Already some damage to this stilt home on Dark Island, Florida as Hurricane Debby approaches a bit ahead of schedule this morning pic.twitter.com/L8pAvFADYj
— Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerUSA) August 5, 2024
Politicians across the three states have been warning residents of the dangers.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis hosted a briefing on Sunday afternoon to warn that the storm could lead to “really, really significant flooding that will happen in North Central Florida.” While Van. R. Johnson, the mayor of Savannah, Georgia, told a press conference: “This is going to a significant storm. The word historic cannot be underscored here.”
Residents should follow their local weather reports for the most up-to-date information.
Debby is the fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, and follows Tropical Storm Alberto, Tropical Storm Chris, and Hurricane Beryl, all of which formed in June.