Hurricane Debby pounds Florida Gulf Coast

Hurricane Debby produced significant fresh water and surge flooding in Florida on Sunday, including at Fort Myers beach shown above. (Photo: Andrew West)

Historic rainfall expected...

Hurricane Debby moved inland Monday morning across the Big Bend area of Florida's Gulf Coast. Debby reached hurricane status briefly overnight, with 80mph (129km/h) winds. Storm surge flooding started on Sunday from Fort Myers Beach northwards across Tampa Bay, Cedar Key and points north. A storm surge of up to 10 feet were observed at many locations, with coastal infrastructure and roads under water.

As Debby moved inland near Steinhatchee, Florida, strong winds and isolated tornadoes cut power to over 275,000 Florida homes and businesses. Power outages and wind damage are now spreading northward into southern Georgia.

At 8am Monday morning, Debby was located about 95km north, northwest of Cedar Key, very close to Horseshoe Beach, where winds gusted to 95mph (152km/h). Debby was moving north, northeast at 17km/h, with a central pressure of 979mb.

Hurricane Debby is expected to weaken to a tropical storm while meandering across the southeastern US for most of the upcoming week. The slow movement of the storm is expected to produce historic rainfall and catastrophic flooding across Georgia and the Carolinas. (NHC)

As Debby moves inland, the system is expected to weaken to a tropical storm. But wind will not be the big story with Debby, it will be the rainfall. Torrential, tropical rainfall is forecast all along the storms track from Georgia into the Carolinas. Rainfall of 200mm (8 inches) to as much as 500mm (20 inches) is expected. Catastrophic to historic flooding is anticipated in many parts of north Georgia and southeast South Carolina. 

Debby is expected to move into the Atlantic briefly Tuesday before a second landfall in South Carolina. Debby is expected to slow down considerably, meandering across the region for the better part of the upcoming week. The remains of the system will spread clouds and rainfall northward into waterlogged New England and perhaps even southern Quebec by next weekend. We will have a better handle on local impacts, if any, as the week progresses. For the time-being, the big story will be the life-threatening flooding expected across the southeastern United States.