Hurricane Debby makes landfall as Category 1 storm

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Flood water blocks a road in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Associated Press/Photo by Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times

Hurricane Debby makes landfall as Category 1 storm

The hurricane struck Florida’s gulf side, hitting near the northwestern bend area on Monday morning with heavy rain, strong winds, and a dangerous storm surge. Debby made landfall near the town of Steinhatchee with sustained winds of 80 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Nearly 300,000 people in Florida were without power Monday morning, according to PowerOutage.us. Before the weekend, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency order for more than 50 counties. The National Weather Service on Monday issued tornado watches in parts of Florida and southern Georgia.

How will the storm affect other states? Early on Monday morning, Debby was expected to decrease in strength to a tropical storm as it moved inland. It was forecast to travel northeast over southern Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Heavy rains through Saturday could cause flooding and Savannah, Ga. and Charleston, S.C. were forecast to receive up to 20 inches of rain this week.

Dig deeper: Listen to Paul Butler’s report on The World and Everything in It about the cleanup after Hurricane Beryl.

Lauren Canterberry

Lauren Canterberry is a reporter for WORLD. She graduated from the World Journalism Institute and the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism, both in 2017. She worked as a local reporter in Texas and now lives in Georgia with her husband.