Tropical Storm Debby moves through Gulf aimed at Florida, expected to become a hurricane

Officials in Florida and Georgia are issuing warnings to those in the path of Tropical Storm Debby which strengthened from a tropical depression over the weekend and is moving over the Gulf of Mexico and taking aim at Florida and Georgia.

Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a statement Saturday telling residents the state's Division of Emergency Management was following the storm closely. A state of emergency was declared for 61 counties so that officials can make critical resources available.

The National Hurricane Center said Saturday the storm was predicted to become a hurricane as it moved through the Gulf before hitting the shores of Florida.

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NOAA highlighted a particular spot of worry for an area of north Florida and a large swath of south Georgia where the agency issued a red warning because of expected heavy flooding in those areas as the storm is forecast to churn over land.

Storm surge warnings were issued by the NHC for parts of west Florida's coastline, and hurricane watches went into effect for the Big Bend region, where the Florida Panhandle transitions into the Florida Peninsula.

NHC said a Tropical Storm warning had been issued for nearly all of the west coast of Florida by Saturday morning.

Wind and storms had already lingered over a large area including southern Florida, the Florida Keys and the Bahamas.

The White House issued a statement saying President Joe Biden was briefed on the storm and that the president is in touch with officials in Florida. FEMA deployed an incident Management Assistance Team, the White House said.

FEMA said it had pre-positioned resources, including water and meals.

Debby is now the fourth named storm of 2024's Atlantic hurricane season. In June Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Chris all formed.