MIAMI: At least four people were killed as Tropical Storm Debby battered Florida on Monday, threatening the southeastern US with heavy rainfall and catastrophic flooding.
A 13-year-old boy died when a tree crashed into a mobile home in Levy County, the sheriff’s office there said, after Debby made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane.
Authorities say a truck driver was killed after his 18-wheeler plunged into a canal in Hillsborough County, while a 38-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy died in a car crash in Dixie County.
According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), the storm is expected to move into Georgia overnight, then move up the coast and approach the South Carolina coast on Thursday.
“This is a level four out of four risk of excess rain,” Michael Brennan, director of the NHC, told reporters.
“Please be very careful when you go out,” he said, adding that Debby’s winds were not as damaging as previous hurricanes that have hit Florida.
President Joe Biden on Sunday approved a state of emergency for Florida that allows federal aid to be expedited.
DeSantis activated the state National Guard with more than 3,000 service members mobilized to help with the storm response.
By late afternoon, the NHC said the storm had registered maximum sustained winds of 85 km/h as it swept over Florida.
Storm surge warnings – signaling life-threatening flooding from rising water – are in effect for parts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
A mandatory evacuation has been ordered for part of Citrus County, Florida, with eight other counties under voluntary evacuation, according to local media.
Police in the city of Sarasota said about 500 residents were evacuated from their flooded homes.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Border Patrol reported that Debby had washed up 25 packages of cocaine on the shores of the Florida Keys, where they were seized.
The intended shipment was valued at more than $1 million, Acting Major Patrol Agent Samuel Briggs II said.
Scientists say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of storms like Beryl because there is more energy in a warmer ocean for them to feed on.
Four killed after Storm Debby hits Florida coast
