Tropical Storm Debby barrels toward Florida
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Tropical Storm Debby has strengthened rapidly and is expected to become a hurricane as it churned through the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida, bringing with it the threat of devastating floods to the southeast Atlantic coast later in the week.
The storm was likely to become a category one hurricane before making landfall Monday in the Big Bend region of Florida, the National Hurricane Centre in Miami said.
From there, the storm is expected to move eastward over northern Florida and then stall over the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina, thrashing the region with the potential of record-setting rains totalling up to 76cm beginning on Tuesday.
Officials also warned of life-threatening storm surges along Florida’s Gulf Coast, with 3.05m of inundation expected 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 Centre in Miami, said at a briefing Sunday.
“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 (76.20 cm) level.”
The flooding impacts, which could last through Friday, are expected to be especially severe in low-lying areas near the coast, including Savannah, Georgia; Hilton Head, South Carolina; and Charleston, South Carolina.
The hurricane centre said in an update that Debby was located about 205 kilometres west-southwest of Tampa, Florida.
The storm at 21 km/h with maximum sustained winds of 105 km/h.
As Debby churned northward, the storm’s outer bands grazed the west coast of Florida on Sunday, flooding streets and bringing power outages.
Debby is the fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season after Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Chris, all of which formed in June.
The hurricane centre predicted the system will strengthen as it curves off the southwest Florida coast, where the water has been extremely warm.
Storm surges are expected to hit the Gulf Coast, including Tampa Bay
Flat Florida is prone to flooding even on sunny days, and the storm was predicted to bring a surge of 0.6 to 1.2 metres along most of the Gulf Coast.
Residents in Steinhatchee, Florida, which flooded during Hurricane Idalia in 2023, spent Sunday moving items to higher ground.
“I’ve been here 29 years. This isn’t the first time I’ve done it. Do you get used to it? No,” Mark Reblin, a business owner said by telephone as he moved items out of the liquor store he owns.
In Summerville, South Carolina, the Dorchester Paws animal shelter announced an emergency evacuation of more than 300 dogs and cats, calling on volunteers to provide a temporary storm foster.
In Tampa alone, officials gave out more than 30,000 sandbags to barricade against flooding.
AP
