Hurricane Debby made landfall about 7 a.m. Monday near Steinhatchee as a Category 1 storm, bringing the rural Big Bend region its second hurricane in less than a year.
Debby, which made landfall with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, was expected to slow and turn northeast, meandering across North Florida and Southeast Georgia later Monday, with the National Hurricane Center saying it could produce “catastrophic flooding in some locations.”
“We have seen and will continue to see flooding in every part of the state of Florida,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a morning news conference at the state Emergency Operations Center.
As the storm moved up the Gulf of Mexico this weekend, DeSantis said the state had “impacts throughout the west coast of Florida, starting in Southwest Florida and continuing up the coast.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a morning news conference at the state Emergency Operations Center. “This storm has produced and will likely produce significant flooding events from (the) Sarasota-Bradenton area all the way up to northern Florida,” DeSantis said. “And that's not something that just happens when the storm passes, there's a threat, ongoing threat of that over the ensuing days.”
The storm is expected to move off the southeast U.S. coast late Tuesday and could come back inland over South Carolina on Thursday.
Steinhatchee is in Taylor County, roughly 90 miles south of Tallahassee. On Aug. 30, 2023, Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Taylor County’s Keaton Beach with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph and storm surge of 7 to 12 feet along the coast. Idalia then caused widespread damage as it moved across North Florida.
Debby, potentially a historic rainmaker, started pounding the Gulf Coast on Sunday, and about 250,000 utility customers were without power Monday morning. Duke Energy Florida said Saturday it was bringing in crews from as far away as Ohio and Kentucky to help restore electricity.
State Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said the goal is to restore electricity to 80 to 85 percent of customers within 24 to 48 hours.
“We’re going to tackle it,” he said. “It's going to be all hands on deck going in there to get that power restored."
Two deaths could have been caused by the storm, one involving a car hydroplaning in Dixie County. The other involved a truck crashing on Interstate 75 in Hillsborough County.
Guthrie said more than 35 tornado warnings had been issued in the state, and additional “tornadic activity” will occur as the system moves across North Florida.
“The hazards from this storm will be seen and felt far outside the center of the cone,” Guthrie said, referring to the cone showing the storm’s potential path. “Flood impacts are going to be felt everywhere.”
North Florida and Central Florida could get 10 to 12 inches of rain, which will cause rivers to flood during the next week, Guthrie said.
Part of recovery efforts will include moving resources closer to the Sarasota Bradenton area, which DeSantis said received “a significant amount of water.”
DeSantis said he didn’t anticipate the state will “dent” the more than 11 million bottles of water and 3 million meal rations available.
On Sunday, the White House said President Joe Biden had approved a federal emergency declaration to provide assistance. The declaration authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts and cover 75 percent of certain storm costs for counties.
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Debby, which made landfall with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, was expected to slow and turn northeast, meandering across North Florida and Southeast Georgia later Monday, with the National Hurricane Center saying it could produce “catastrophic flooding in some locations.”
“We have seen and will continue to see flooding in every part of the state of Florida,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a morning news conference at the state Emergency Operations Center.
As the storm moved up the Gulf of Mexico this weekend, DeSantis said the state had “impacts throughout the west coast of Florida, starting in Southwest Florida and continuing up the coast.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a morning news conference at the state Emergency Operations Center. “This storm has produced and will likely produce significant flooding events from (the) Sarasota-Bradenton area all the way up to northern Florida,” DeSantis said. “And that's not something that just happens when the storm passes, there's a threat, ongoing threat of that over the ensuing days.”
The storm is expected to move off the southeast U.S. coast late Tuesday and could come back inland over South Carolina on Thursday.
Steinhatchee is in Taylor County, roughly 90 miles south of Tallahassee. On Aug. 30, 2023, Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Taylor County’s Keaton Beach with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph and storm surge of 7 to 12 feet along the coast. Idalia then caused widespread damage as it moved across North Florida.
Debby, potentially a historic rainmaker, started pounding the Gulf Coast on Sunday, and about 250,000 utility customers were without power Monday morning. Duke Energy Florida said Saturday it was bringing in crews from as far away as Ohio and Kentucky to help restore electricity.
State Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said the goal is to restore electricity to 80 to 85 percent of customers within 24 to 48 hours.
“We’re going to tackle it,” he said. “It's going to be all hands on deck going in there to get that power restored."
Two deaths could have been caused by the storm, one involving a car hydroplaning in Dixie County. The other involved a truck crashing on Interstate 75 in Hillsborough County.
Guthrie said more than 35 tornado warnings had been issued in the state, and additional “tornadic activity” will occur as the system moves across North Florida.
“The hazards from this storm will be seen and felt far outside the center of the cone,” Guthrie said, referring to the cone showing the storm’s potential path. “Flood impacts are going to be felt everywhere.”
North Florida and Central Florida could get 10 to 12 inches of rain, which will cause rivers to flood during the next week, Guthrie said.
Part of recovery efforts will include moving resources closer to the Sarasota Bradenton area, which DeSantis said received “a significant amount of water.”
DeSantis said he didn’t anticipate the state will “dent” the more than 11 million bottles of water and 3 million meal rations available.
On Sunday, the White House said President Joe Biden had approved a federal emergency declaration to provide assistance. The declaration authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts and cover 75 percent of certain storm costs for counties.
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