Tropical Storm Debby will tear into Florida’s Big Bend as a hurricane on Friday as it continues to gain strength across the eastern Gulf of Mexico, forcing residents in the area to evacuate.
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Published on 04 August 2024 • 2 minutes of reading
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(Bloomberg) — Tropical Storm Debby will tear toward Florida’s Big Bend as a hurricane Friday as it continues to increase in strength across the eastern Gulf of Mexico, forcing residents in the area to evacuate.
Maximum winds could reach 85 miles (137 kilometers) per hour, making it a Category 1 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale when it made landfall on the coast south of Tallahassee, the US National Hurricane Center said.
“This is a life-threatening situation,” John Canngialosi, senior hurricane specialist at the center, wrote in his forecast. “People in the area should take all necessary actions to protect life and property from rising water and other potentially dangerous conditions.”
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 61 of 67 counties, and activated the National Guard and other resources. Dixie County ordered coastal residents to evacuate as of 2 p.m. Sunday, and nearby Taylor County has opened shelters.
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the storm, and federal emergency officials have resources already in place, including water and food, the White House said.
As of 8 a.m. Debby was about 155 miles southwest of Tampa with maximum sustained winds of about 60 mph. The danger to the coast is increasing because there is a chance that the storm will rapidly intensify, where winds could jump to about 35 mph in 24 hours, said Ryan Truchelut, president of commercial forecaster Weather Tiger LCC. “I would say that rapid intensification is possible, although it may not be desirable,” he said.
Debby’s forward progress has slowed, which means it will have more time to build in strength as it stays over warm Gulf waters for longer, said Matt Rinde, a meteorologist with commercial-forecasting AccuWeather Inc. There is also a chance that it will be more organized, which. will give another boost in strength.
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Debby is likely to cause flooding from heavy rains and storm surges that could reach 10 feet (3 meters) in some areas as it pushes water up the coast.
In addition, there will likely be widespread power outages in parts of Florida, but the storm will be too far east for oil and natural gas operations along the west coast of the Gulf of Mexico, crippling energy markets. Debby is the fourth hurricane of 2024 and will be the second to hit the US this year.
West Florida in recent years has been hit by storms including Category 5 Michael in 2018 – which killed at least 16 people in the US – and Ian, which struck as a Category 4 storm in 2022, causing more than 160 deaths. A year ago, Hurricane Idalia made landfall in the Big Bend area as a Category 3 storm.
Warm ocean waters in the Caribbean and Gulf have led to warnings this will be a very active Atlantic hurricane season. In typical years, the fourth tropical system usually doesn’t arrive until mid-August.
After crossing Florida, Debby could again exit the coast of South Carolina, where its onshore winds will push water to the coast and prevent local rivers from draining floodwaters from the interior, said Rinde. If the storm stalls that way it could increase the risk of flooding across the region, including in northern Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.
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