Hurricane Debby slammed into the Big Bend coast of Florida as a Category 1 storm on Monday with 80 mph winds, causing flooding as it makes its way toward the East Coast.
The storm hit Florida’s Gulf Coast near the small community of Steinhatchee around 7 a.m. Monday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. Debby is the fourth named storm of what is predicted to be an above-average hurricane season, forecasters told FreightWaves. Debby was downgraded to a tropical storm late morning Monday.
Remnants of Debby are expected to slowly move across the East Coast, bringing record-setting rain to some states in its path. The Hurricane Center is predicting that the storm will bring major flooding to the Southeast over the next few days. The storm is forecast to hit the Georgia coast by Tuesday night.
“This is a life-threatening situation,” the center said in an update Monday morning.
Debby could dump up to 18 inches of rain on parts of Florida and North Carolina through Saturday, causing flash flooding, forecasters predict.
Parts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina could see up to 30 inches of rain.
“I’m very concerned the Savannah, Charleston and Myrtle Beach areas could face catastrophic amounts of rainfall over the next few days, especially if Debby stalls for a longer amount of time than we expect,” said AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva.
Maryland to Massachusetts could see flooding and rain Friday through Sunday.
Ports prepare
The Jacksonville Port Authority closed its port Monday afternoon to incoming vessels. The landside cargo operations for the port — the largest container port in Florida — continued.
Port Tampa Bay, which handles 33 million tons of cargo annually and is Florida’s largest port overall, closed its waterways Saturday in anticipation of the storm. The waterways remained closed Monday. The port’s nonvessel operations were open.
Georgia ports are closed at 3 p.m. Monday, said spokesman Tom Boyd. Terminals will remain closed Tuesday with plans to reopen Wednesday.
The Port of Fernandina, a small port on Florida’s Atlantic Coast that handles steel, aluminum, machinery, paper and forest products, and consumer goods, is open but on “X-ray status,” a readiness condition ahead of possible gale force winds, said office manager Rossana Hebron.
Vessels of more than 500 gross tons and oceangoing barges should make preparations to leave the port or have permission from the Coast Guard captain of the port to remain in port, she said.
Trucker dies ahead of landfall
AccuWeather reported that at least four people had died from Debby.
A 64-year-old New Albany, Mississippi, truck driver died when he lost control of his 18-wheeler and plunged into the Tampa Bypass Canal early Monday, said Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Steve Gaskins.
A 13-year-old boy died in Fanning Springs, Florida, a city outside of Gainesville, when a tree fell onto his mobile home, crushing him, the Levy County Sheriff’s Office reported.
A 38-year-old woman and 12-year-old boy died in a vehicle crash as Debby approached Florida, local reports said.
Other impacts
President Joe Biden approved the emergency disaster declaration in Florida. Some 275,000 customers were without power Monday afternoon.
More than 9,000 flights were delayed Monday across the nation and about 1,800 were canceled, according to FlightAware.
AccuWeather is warning residents in southern New England to be prepared for storms later this week.
This is a developing story and will be updated.