Debby strengthened into a hurricane as the system neared a Monday landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region, where residents have fled ahead of a potential week-long disaster across the South.
Top winds intensified to 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour — making Debby a Category 1 system — and are expected to strength further before hitting the coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm will likely to push as much as 10 feet (3 meters) of water inland and bring heavy rain.
“This is a life-threatening situation,” Richard Pasch, a senior hurricane specialist at the center, wrote in a forecast. “Potentially historic heavy rainfall across southeast Georgia and South Carolina through Friday morning will likely result in areas of catastrophic flooding.”
President Joe Biden declared an emergency in Florida and ordered federal resources to help the state, the White House said. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp have declared emergencies in their states as Debby moves north. Florida’s Dixie County ordered coastal residents to flee starting at 2 p.m. Sunday, and adjacent Taylor County has opened shelters.
Florida coastal areas may see upward of $250 million in damage and losses. If the storm causes widespread flooding across the South, particularly around Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, the tally may rise as high as $1 billion, said Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler at Enki Research.
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