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AccuWeather
Deadly Debby spreads flooding inland into Florida
By Jesse Ferrell,
5 hours ago
Hurricane Debby made landfall in Florida's Big Bend Monday morning but is expected to spread severe flooding across the Southeast this week.
Debby, now a tropical storm, continues to spread flooding into the Florida Panhandle. At 11 a.m. Monday, two "considerable damage threat" flash flood warnings covered parts of 4 counties. Other flood warnings were in effect from Tampa to the Big Bend and into southern Georgia. A tornado watch is also in effect.
At least 300,000 homes and businesses are without power in Florida as Debby’s hurricane-force winds batter the state Monday morning, according to PowerOutage.com, down from 324,000 earlier Monday. The outages also spread into Georgia, where there were 20,000 out.
At least 4 people have been killed by the storm so far. A semi-truck driver was killed in a traffic accident on I-75 in the Tampa area, the Associated Press said. WCJB reported that a 13-year-old boy died when a tree fell on his mobile home, and the Tallahassee Democrat reported a 38-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy were killed in a car accident as Debby approached Florida with witnesses telling the Florida Highway Patrol the car lost control “due to inclement weather and wet roadway.”
In Union County, a possible tornado touched down Sunday night, damaging at least one home.
Hurricane Debby made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane just before 7:00 a.m. EDT Monday morning near Steinhatchee along Florida's Big Bend. Winds gusted to 99 mph near landfall. The landfall is within 20 miles of Hurricane Idalia’s landfall, a Category 3 storm that roared ashore in the Big Bend of Florida in August 2023.
Up to 6 feet of storm surge flooding occurred at Cedar Key early Monday morning. On Sunday, a significant overwash occurred in St. Petersburg, Florida, as a 4-foot storm surge hit Tampa Bay. Rainfall since Friday topped 20 inches in the Sarasota, Florida, area.
The forecast for Hurricane Debby: Dangers loom for Georgia, Carolinas
A state of emergency has been issued in Georgia and South Carolina as residents and officials brace for flooding rain and storm surge, gusty winds and severe thunderstorms from Debby as it slows down along the Atlantic coast.
“With a potentially significant rainfall event forecast for the next few days, it is critical that residents in potentially affected areas start making preparations and plans today—in case it is necessary to take quick action,” South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster said in a statement.
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