Tropical Storm Debby is expected to become a hurricane as it barrels through the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida on Sunday.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm would likely strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane before it reaches Florida’s Big Bend region on Monday.
The storm is then expected to move over northern Florida toward the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina with a high potential for a “historic rainfall event and potentially catastrophic flooding” lasting from early Tuesday to Friday.
In an update posted at 11 a.m. Sunday, the hurricane center located Debby about 130 miles (210 km) west-southwest of Tampa and about 160 miles (260 km) south-southwest of Cedar Keys, Florida.
“I’d urge all Floridians to be cognizant of the fact that we are going to have a hurricane hit the state, probably a Category 1, but it could be a little bit more powerful than that,” Governor Ron DeSantis said.
“But we are absolutely going to see a lot of rainfall. We are going to see a lot of saturation. We are going to see flooding events. There is also going to be power outages.”
Debby is the fourth named Atlantic storm of the 2024 hurricane season after Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Beryl, and Tropical Storm Chris.
