All posts tagged "Hurricane Debby"

Debby strengthened into a hurricane late Sunday as it bore down on Florida’s Gulf Coast with potential for history-making levels of rain and major flooding, prompting evacuation orders.

Debby grew rapidly into a Category One hurricane, the lowest on a five-stage scale, thanks to unusually warm Gulf of Mexico and is expected to slam into Florida’s Big Bend region around mid-day Monday.

The National Hurricane Center warned there is a danger of life-threatening storm surges along Florida’s Gulf Coast with six to 10 feet (1.8 to 3.0 meters) of inundation above ground level in some areas....

Gov. Ron DeSantis warned residents Sunday to complete preparations for the arrival of Tropical Storm Debby, which has been forecast to hit the Big Bend area Monday morning with hurricane-force winds.

“We are gonna face impacts in this state,” he said during a 7:30 a.m. briefing from the Florida Emergency Operations Center on Tallahassee’s south side.

“You still have time to finalize your preparations, so I would urge all Floridians to do so. I would urge all Floridians to be cognizant of the fact that we are going to have a hurricane hit the state — probably a Category One but it could be a little bit more powerful than that. ...