The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Hurricane Debby is expected to make landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast by noon on Monday, after which it will slowly cross the state, potentially bringing dangerous storm surges and catastrophic flooding.
As of 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT) on Sunday, the storm’s winds were blowing at 75 mph (120 kph), growing from a slow-moving tropical storm and gaining strength from warm Gulf waters. It will likely get even stronger.
The hurricane center forecast life-threatening conditions, including storm surges up to 10 feet (3 meters) high in some areas.
It said the storm could bring “potentially historic rainfall” of 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 cm) and catastrophic flooding to Georgia and South Carolina as it slowly moves north. Local areas could see up to 30 inches of rain by Friday morning.
“That’s going to be the story of this storm,” said Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the hurricane center. “Its slow-moving rain will be historic amounts — possibly more than 20 inches. You’re talking about catastrophic flooding.”
The storm has some characteristics of Hurricane Harvey, which struck Corpus Christi, Texas, in August 2017. It downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved inland, but stayed over the state and dumped nearly 50 inches of rain on Houston.
Harvey is considered one of the wettest storms in U.S. history, causing over 100 deaths and $125 billion in damage, primarily due to flooding in the Houston metropolitan area.
Debby was fueled by exceptionally warm Gulf waters, Rome said.
Climate scientists believe that man-made global warming from the burning of fossil fuels has raised the temperature of the oceans, making storms bigger and more destructive.
In preparation for Debby, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called up 3,000 National Guard troops and placed most of the state’s cities and counties under emergency orders, while mandatory evacuations were ordered for parts of Citrus, Dixie, Franklin, Levy, and Wakulla counties on the Gulf Coast.
DeSantis said more than 17,000 linemen and other electrical workers are ready to restore power.
The governors of Georgia and South Carolina also declared states of emergency ahead of the storm.
Heavy rain
Debby became a tropical storm late Saturday after moving over northern Cuba. As of 11 p.m. Eastern time, the storm was about 100 miles west of Tampa and moving toward the Gulf Coast at 12 mph (19 kph), with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph), the NHC reported.
The hurricane center said Debby’s center would move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico and reach the Florida Big Bend coast by noon Monday. It said Debby is expected to slowly move toward northern Florida and southern Georgia on Monday and Tuesday.
The storm is expected to lose some strength after making landfall, but will bring heavy rain as it moves through central Florida toward the Atlantic coast. It will then reach Savannah, Georgia, and then Charleston, South Carolina. It will linger with heavy rain this week.
Storm surge forecast from Bonita Beach northward to Tampa Bay may cause ocean waves to move deeper than normal, causing damage to structures and posing danger to anyone in their path.
The last hurricane to directly strike the Big Bend area was Idalia, which briefly attained Category 4 strength before making landfall as a Category 3 with winds over 125 mph in August 2023. The National Centers for Environmental Information estimates it caused $3.5 billion in damage.
Forecasters expect the 2024 season, which begins June 1, to feature a large number of Atlantic hurricanes, with four to seven considered the largest. That’s more than the record-breaking 2005 season, which featured the devastating hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Only one hurricane, Beryl, has formed in the Atlantic this year. It is the first-ever Category 5 storm to strike the Caribbean and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula before hitting the Texas Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 95 mph.
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