Tropical Storm Debby to hit Florida as hurricane with dangerous storm surge: Live

Tropical Storm Debby is expected to take a similar path to Hurricane Ian in 2022, Reuters reports.

Hurricane Ian, which peaked at Category 5, killed nearly 150 people in Florida and caused billions of dollars in damage across the state.

Meanwhile, Debby is expected to hit Category 1 as it makes landfall in Florida on Monday. Its path is also similar to Hurricane Idalia in 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis said. However, Debby could impact Tallahassee more than last year’s storm.

“It may very well have more impacts in the Tallahassee area than Idalia did,” DeSantis said.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has mobilized the National Guard as local officials order thousands of coastal residents to evacuate ahead of Tropical Storm Debby.

The system is expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane as it makes landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region on Monday. 3,000 members of the Nationl Guard are now standing by to help the state through “life-threatening” storm surge, heavy rain and catastrophic flooding.

“Take the situation seriously,” Paul Hasenmeier, Hernando County fire chief, told residents on Saturday night. “We know the water is going to come up as the storm passes.”

DeSantis has placed more than 50 of Florida’s counties under a state of emergency as the storm approaches. He warned that residents should prepare for “pretty catastrophic” weather.

“Just because you are not in the eye of the storm doesn’t mean you’re not going to have major, major effects,” DeSantis said on Sunday morning.

Tropical Storm Debby, expected to intensify into a Category 1 hurricane this evening, comes amid a hurricane season that experts warn could be catastrophic as climate crisis fuels rising ocean temperatures.

A study from Colorado State University published earlier this year predicted 23 tropical storms and hurricanes this year, the highest number they’ve predicted in their 20 years of work. The team says hotter oceans are to blame.

Now, Tropical Storm Beryl is racing towards Florida as it strengthens rapidly thanks to warm Gulf of Mexico temperatures. The system will likely become a Category 1 hurricane within the next day. The storm will make landfall on Monday in Florida, bringing life-threatening storm surge, rain and flooding to the region.

Read more about the climate crisis and its impact on this year’s hurricane season from The Independent:

Tropical Storm Debby will “strengthen rapidly” into a Category 1 hurricane today before making landfall in Florida on Monday, the National Weather Service said moments ago.

The storm will bring “life-threatening” storm surge of 10 feet to Florida’s Gulf Coast, along with historic levels rain in Georgia and South Carolina.

Officials in Florida’s Citrus and Levy counties have issued mandatory evacuation orders to some 20,000 coastal residents, local outlet KHQA reports.

Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast told the outlet his office rescued more than 70 people from storm surge in the country during last year’s disastrous Hurricane Idalia.

“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 told KHQA.

Governor Ron DeSantis, who issued a state of emergency to more than 50 counties in Florida, urged residents to prepare for Tropical Storm Debby even if they aren’t in its direct path.

“It is going to move very slowly across north Florida and southeast Georgia,” DeSantis said. “We already have saturation in those areas, so you are going to have a lot of flooding.”

“Just because you are not in the eye of the storm doesn’t mean you’re not going to have major, major effects,” he continued.

DeSantis also warned residents about the potential for power outages: “If you are in the path of the storm, assume that’s going to happen.”

As of Sunday morning, just 9,000 people across the state are without power — however, that number will likely rise as Debby approaches.