Tropical Storm Debby, which made landfall in Florida on Monday morning as a hurricane, has killed at least four people and threatens to cause “catastrophic flooding” in the southeastern United States.
A 13-year-old boy was killed when a tree fell on his family’s mobile home in Fanning Springs, northwest Florida, local authorities said.
Two other people died in a car accident in Dixie County after the driver “lost control due to bad weather and wet road conditions,” according to local police. A tractor-trailer driver also died near Tampa after falling into a canal.
The heart of the storm “will linger along the coast for two or three days”
Debby, downgraded to a tropical storm on Monday after making landfall, moved into Georgia on Monday evening and is expected to move offshore and approach South Carolina on Thursday, according to the U.S. Hurricane Center (NHC).
After peaking at 75 mph (120 km/h), the storm’s winds had slowed to 47 mph (75 km/h) by Monday night. The NHC had warned that coastal waters of up to six feet (2 metres) were possible in some areas. “The effects of Debby are just beginning and will be felt throughout the week along parts of the southeast coast,” NHC Director Michael Brennan said.
The heart of the storm “will linger along the coast for two to three days,” resulting in “a prolonged period of extreme rainfall that could lead to catastrophic flooding” in Georgia and South Carolina, he added.
Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency
Debby made landfall Monday as a Category 1 hurricane (on a scale of 5) near Steinhatchee, a small town of about 1,000 people on Florida’s west coast on the Gulf of Mexico. “We have seen and will continue to see flooding in various parts of Florida,” state Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday morning. “There is a continued threat for days to come.”
There is a risk, according to hurricane expert Michael Lowry, that Debby will “slow down significantly by Tuesday” as it passes over land and “dumps all of its rain” during the week, bringing up to 30 inches of rainfall in some places, “historic” levels that will lead to “potentially catastrophic flooding.”
President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency — a measure that releases federal funds to help local authorities — in South Carolina on Sunday, after having declared it in Florida the day before. The governor of Georgia also declared a state of emergency in his state.