FLORIDA: Tropical Storm Debby formed late Saturday and was expected to strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall on Florida’s northern Gulf Coast on Monday, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm turned into a tropical storm after days of spinning as a broad, sloppy system in the Atlantic that finally bounced off the northern coast of Cuba on Saturday night when it was about 100 miles west-southwest of Key West, Florida, forecasters said.
“It is increasingly clear that Debby will become a hurricane before landfall,” said Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the NHC, urging people to heed evacuation orders.
The storm was crawling at 14 mph (23 km/h) on the Gulf Coast about 240 miles (386 km) south of Tampa, where its winds were expected to increase from 40 mph to 70 mph or more as it picked up overnight. strength.
“This is a life-threatening situation,” the NHC said in a report late Saturday.
Debby was already looking for rain storms, 40 mph winds and high tides Saturday night in Key West, Florida.
“There are a number of hazards, not just wind,” Rhome said.
It warned of storm surges of up to 7 feet (2 m) along Florida’s Big Bend area, where it is expected to make landfall southeast of the Florida Panhandle.
“I’m six feet tall now,” Rhome said. “That’s over my head,” he said.
He added that heavy rain of 10 inches (25 cm) could be expected with up to 15 inches of rain in places, more if the storm slows or stalls over land.
Debby is expected to make its way through central Florida to the Atlantic coast and crawl into Savannah, Georgia and then toward Charleston, South Carolina.
Ocean waves are forecast for Bonita Beach north to Tampa Bay. These waves could send sea waves further inland than normal, damaging structures and endangering anyone in their path.
Parts of three Florida Gulf Coast counties, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus, issued mandatory or voluntary evacuations Saturday.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for extreme South Florida and extending as far north as the Fort Myers area, which was crushed by Hurricane Ian in 2022.
Gov. Ron DeSantis called in 3,000 National Guard members and placed most cities and counties in the state under emergency orders ahead of expected landfall.
U.S. forecasters expect a large number of Atlantic hurricanes to form in the 2024 season, which began June 1, with between four and seven major hurricanes out of 25 named storms. That’s more than the record-breaking 2005 season that spawned Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Only one hurricane, Beryl, has formed in the Atlantic so far this year. The first recorded Category 5 storm ravaged the Caribbean and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula before making landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast as a Category 1 storm with winds of up to 95 mph.
Debby is expected to follow a similar track to 2022’s deadly Hurricane Ian, which killed at least 103 people in Florida and caused billions of dollars in damage as it made its way along the Gulf Coast.
