Deadly Debby back to tropical storm as it moves inland; flooding still a threat for southern counties

ORLANDO, Fla. – Hurricane Debby made landfall on Florida’s Big Bend early Monday before dropping back down to a tropical storm as it moved inland, according to the National Hurricane Center. At least four people have died from either fallen trees or car crashes since the storm moved up through the Gulf of Mexico lashing the state with wind and rain over the weekend.

What had been a tropical storm most of Sunday formed into a Category 1 hurricane before midnight, and continued to intensify overnight making landfall near Steinhatchee with sustained winds of 80 mph around 7 a.m. Eastern time and reported gusts of up to 95 mph.

The path fell just 15 miles south of where Hurricane Idalia struck in 2023.

As of 8 p.m. Sunday the NHC reported that Debby, which had reduced its intensity back to a tropical storm by 11 a.m., had further diminished strength as it moved inland with 45 mph sustained winds 50 miles east of Valdosta, Georgia. It had slowed as well moving northeast at 6 mph. Debby’s tropical-storm-force winds extend out 140 miles from the storm’s center.

The outer bands to the east of Debby’s center had spawned several tornado warnings across Florida overnight as the storm churned north. Southwest Orange County, including Disney World, fell under a tornado warning Monday, indicated by radar, but no funnel cloud was spotted.

A late Sunday tornado warning was issued in Cocoa, and the winds flipped five campers on their side at an RV park, according to Orlando Sentinel news partner Spectrum News 13. At least one resident was transported to an area hospital.

The storm had already sent storm surge to flood the coastal areas of cities from Fort Myers north to the Panhandle while much of the west coast endured power outages, downed trees and some structural damage as the storm progressed north on Sunday.

Images posted on social media by Cedar Key Fire Rescue early Monday showed floodwaters rising along the streets of the city, located south of where the storm made landfall. Water was “coming in at a pretty heavy pace,” the post said.

During a news conference Monday afternoon from the Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the Florida Department of Emergency Management was well prepared to react to the system, which was much less harrowing that 2023’s Hurricane Idalia and 2022’s Hurricane Ian.

“We will not even scratch the surface of needing to use what was mobilized, and I think that’s the way to do it,” he said. “We want to make sure that we’re prepared for the worst and we hope for the best. You never want to have a storm but compared to Ian and even Idalia, this one is not leaving the same destruction in its wake.”

FDEM has already completed 435 storm-related missions, including requests for things like high-water vehicles or pumps, and is in the midst of completing about 400 more, he said.

“We know there’s a lot of water. We know that presents hazards and we’ll be ready to work accordingly,” he said. “There is going to be damage from the storm. There has been. There will be, but compared to some of the things that I think Floridians have been used to in the last five or 10 years, this is not Hurricane Michael. This is not Hurricane Ian.”

While wind and storm surge were the immediate threat, flooding remains a major concern in the days to come, said DeSantis said during a Monday news conference as the hurricane was moving ashore.

“This storm has produced and will likely produce significant flooding events from Sarasota-Bradenton area all the way up to northern Florida,” he said. “There’s a threat, ongoing threat of that, over the ensuing days.”

He urged at the time for Floridians to remain inside.

“Don’t go out into the storm. Don’t drive on the roads, particularly when they’re flooded,” he said noting some traffic accidents already across the state that might be blamed on the hurricane when an official death toll is taken.

One semitruck, the driver of which was found dead inside the cab of the vehicle, had veered off a bridge into the water off Interstate 75 in Tampa, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. FHP also reported another two-car crash in Dixie County on Sunday night that left two people dead and one person hospitalized stating witnesses said it looked like one of the vehicles had lost control because of a wet roadway and inclement weather.

“When you have flood situations, that is the No. 1 way where we will see fatalities is by people being out on the roads and hydroplaning or having other problems,” he said. “So do not go walk or drive into flooded roadways. There are hazards there. They’re dangerous. We want everybody to be safe.”

Another death was reported by the Levy County Sheriff’s Office, which confirmed a 13-year-old boy had been crushed inside a mobile home that was hit by a fallen tree in Fanning Springs on Monday morning.

The governor had declared a state of emergency last week to most of the state’s counties, and President Joe Biden approved the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts.

The Florida National Guard has 3,000 service members set for the response efforts along Florida State Guard, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and county emergency response personnel with an arsenal of high-water vehicles and other response equipment.

It’s the fourth hurricane to hit Florida in August since 2000 following Hurricane Charley in 2004, Katrina in 2005 and last year’s Hurricane Idalia.

FDEM Director Kevin Guthrie said some places saw 10 to 12 inches in southwest Florida with rivers and streams expected to go into flood stage this week, especially in North Florida where the storm continues to dump torrents of rain on the area.

“This is going to be an event that is going to be probably here for the next five to seven days, maybe as long as 10 days depending on how much rainfall we get, so we are not running anywhere,” he said. “We are staying put and we’re going to make sure that we’re here to respond.”

In an effort to stem any post-storm deaths and injuries, he urged those with damage on their homes to not to try and take care of it themselves.

“Please do not get up on a ladder. Do not try to put a tarp on a roof. Do not try to cut a limb. We have volunteer organizations that will come and help you with that,” Guthrie said asking people instead contact their local emergency management agency. “We will make sure somebody comes and helps you on your property. Do not risk yourself, do not risk injury. We will come and help you.”

Storm surge was forecast to raise water levels from 6 to 10 feet on parts of Big Bend closest to the storm’s center. A tide station in Cedar Key on Monday morning recorded water level at 4.6 feet above normal, the NHC reported.

The tropical storm and storm surge warnings had ceased for Florida’s west coast as of 5 p.m.

A tropical storm warning remains in effect on the east coast from Georgia and South Carolina coast from the mouth of the St. Mary’s River to South Santee River in South Carolina; South Carolina and North Carolina coast from north of South Santee River to Cape Fear, North Carolina; St. Augustine, Florida to South Santee River, South Carolina; and north of South Santee River, South Carolina to Cape Fear, North Carolina.

“A turn toward the east is expected on Tuesday, followed by a turn to the north at a slow forward speed on Wednesday,” said NHC senior hurricane specialist Daniel Brown. “On the forecast track, the center will move across southeastern Georgia tonight and Tuesday, move offshore of the South Carolina coast by late Tuesday and Wednesday, and approach the South Carolina coast on Thursday.”

As of 8 p.m., about 160,000 customers were without power in Florida, down from a high of more than 300,000 on Monday morning, while more than 26,000 customers were without power in Georgia, according to poweroutage.us, About 11,000 remain without power in Pinellas County, which was lashed all day Sunday by bands from the storm. In Central Florida, less than 100 were without power in Lake County down from more than 20,000 on Monday morning.

DeSantis said power issues are not as bad as Idalia and nowhere near what was seen with 2022’s Hurricane Ian.

“We have a lot of restoration personnel ready to go to get it back on,” he said. “We do have 17,000 linemen that are ready to assist with restoring power immediately and I know a lot of the utilities have already restored hundreds of thousands of folks starting yesterday.”

The system had grown since becoming Tropical Depression Four late Friday and developing into a tropical storm on Saturday.

The NHC expects rainfall from 6 to 12 inches with some areas getting up to 18 inches across portions of Florida, and up to 30 inches across parts of the Southeast U.S. this weekend and through Thursday morning that could cause flash and urban flooding as well as some isolated river flooding.

“This potentially historic rainfall will likely result in areas of catastrophic flooding,” NHC forecasters said.

The NHC also continues to track a system in the Caribbean with a chance to form into the season’s next tropical depression or storm.

As of the NHC’s 8 p.m. tropical outlook Monday, the tropical wave was located near the Caribbean’s Windward Islands with disorganized showers and thunderstorms.

“Any development of this system should be slow to occur during the next couple of days while it moves westward over the eastern and central Caribbean Sea,” forecasters said. “Environmental conditions are expected to become more conducive for development later this week as the system moves across the western Caribbean Sea or the southern Gulf of Mexico.”

The NHC gives it a 10% chance to develop in the next two days and 30% in the next seven days.

If it were to form into a named storm, it could take on the name Tropical Storm Ernesto.

Debby became the fourth official system of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. The others were Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Chris.

Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, but the height of storm formation runs from mid-August into October.