Tropical Storm Debby becomes 4th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, threatens Florida’s Gulf Coast

Tropical Storm Debby became the fourth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center reported Saturday, and is likely to bring drenching rain and coastal flooding to much of Florida’s Gulf Coast beginning as soon as this weekend. 

Forecasters said the depression turned into a tropical storm over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. Late Saturday night, Debbie was  churning through the eastern Gulf of Mexico and was centered about 60 miles southwest of Dry Tortugas National Park near Key West, Florida, according to the hurricane center, and 260 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida. It had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and was moving northwest at 14 mph.

It was forecast to continue strengthening and would likely become a hurricane before making landfall in North Florida’s Big Bend region by Monday morning, the hurricane center said. It would then move slowly across northern Florida and southern Georgia Monday and Tuesday. 

A hurricane warning was issued for parts of the Big Bend and the Florida Panhandle, while tropical storm warnings were posted for Florida’s West Coast the southern Florida Keys and the Dry Tortugas. A tropical storm watch extended farther west into the Panhandle. A warning means storm conditions are expected within 36 hours, while a watch means they are possible within 48 hours.

Tropical storms and hurricanes can trigger river flooding and overwhelm drainage systems and the region’s canals. Forecasters are warning of 5 to 10 inches of rain, which could create “locally considerable” flash and urban flooding. Forecasters are already warning of moderate flooding for some rivers along Florida’s West Coast.  

Debby is the fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season after Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Chris, all of which formed in June.  

Debby forecast to bring heavy rain to the South

Some of the heaviest rains could actually come next week along the Atlantic Coast from Jacksonville, Florida, through coastal regions of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The storm is expected to slow down after making landfall.

“We could see a stall or a meandering motion around coastal portions of the southeastern United States,” National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said in a Saturday briefing. “So that’s going to exacerbate not just the rainfall risk, but also the potential for storm surge and some strong winds.”

Flat Florida is prone to flooding even on sunny days, and the storm was predicted to bring a surge of 2 to 4 feet along most of the Gulf Coast, including Tampa Bay, with a storm tide of up to 7 feet north of there in the sparsely populated Big Bend region.

Forecasters warned of “a danger of life-threatening storm surge inundation” in a region that includes Hernando Beach, Crystal River, Steinhatchee and Cedar Key. Officials in Citrus and Levy counties ordered a mandatory evacuation of coastal areas, while those in Hernando, Manatee, Pasco and Taylor counties called for voluntary evacuations. Shelters opened in those and some other counties.

Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast estimated 21,000 people live in his county’s evacuation zone. Officials rescued 73 people from storm surge flooding during last year’s Hurricane Idalia, and Prendergast said by phone that he’s hoping not to have a repeat with Debbie.

“After the storm surge does come in, we simply don’t have enough first responders in our agency and among the other first responders in the county to go in and rescue everybody that might need to be rescued,” he said.

Storm preparations underway 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 61 of Florida’s 67 counties, with the National Guard activating 3,000 guard members. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp made his own emergency proclamation on Saturday.

The White House said federal and Florida officials were in touch, and FEMA “pre-positioned” resources including water and food.

In Tampa alone, officials gave out more than 30,000 sandbags to barricade against flooding.

“We’ve got our stormwater drains cleared out. We’ve got our generators all checked and full. We’re doing everything that we need to be prepared to face a tropical storm,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said.

In anticipation of the potential heavy rain, Miami Beach also cleaned out its entire storm drain system, including pump stations, CBS Miami reported. Temporary pumps were deployed to low-lying areas and vacuum trucks were also prepared to assist with removing floodwaters.

Christina Lothrop is the general manager at Blue Pelican Marina in Hernando Beach, a barrier island about 50 miles north of St. Petersburg. She said the public ramp was jammed Saturday with people launching boats.

“Today it’s kind of normal, which is kind of weird,” Lothrop told The Associated Press by telephone.

Workers at her marina have been preparing since Tuesday, however, securing boats stored on racks, stowing tool boxes and tying everything down.

“Right now what we’re doing is mostly tying up boats,” Lothrop said.

Before closing Saturday, Lothrop planned to raise computers off the floor and sandbag and tape doors. Idalia pushed about a foot of water into the store.

On Friday, crews pulled floating cranes away from a bridge construction project across Tampa Bay, lashing together 74 barges and 24 floating cranes and anchoring them, project engineer Marianne Brinson told the Tampa Bay Times. Crews also laid down cranes on land on their sides.

Pinellas County paused a $5 million beach renourishment project necessitated in part by erosion from past storms.