The state of Florida prepares for the arrival of a storm

The 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Hurricane Debby, President Joe Biden, and the FEMA Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A Hurricane Warning for the Florida Panhandle

Debby is the fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season after Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Chris, all of which formed in June.

Tropical storm warnings were posted for parts of the West Coast, the southern Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas while a Hurricane warning was posted for the Florida Panhandle. A tropical storm watch extended farther west into the Panhandle. A warning and a watch indicate that storm conditions are possible within 48 hours.

Brennan said the exact track the storm would take over land was still unclear, but forecasters were “very confident we’re going to have a slow-moving system that’s going to result in multiple days of very, very heavy rainfall.”

Some of the heaviest rains could actually come next week along the Atlantic Coast from Jacksonville, Florida, through coastal regions of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The storm is expected to slow down after making landfall.

Warmer ocean temperatures and higher sea levels driven by climate change are making hurricanes and tropical storms more intense, causing heavier rainfall and more extreme flooding.

On Thursday, the governor declared a state of emergency in order to prepare for the storms and make sure the state had all of the resources it would need. He told residents to expect power outages.

On Saturday, President Joe Biden approved Florida’s request for a federal emergency declaration ahead of Debby’s arrival, which authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to help coordinate disaster relief efforts.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said the Blue Pelican Marina and Tropical Hurricane Idalia prepared for next-to-leading-order hurricanes

The watch was in effect for the entire Georgia and South Carolina coastline from the South Santee River to the St Mary’s River.

Roughly the same area of Florida faced another major storm around this time last year, when Hurricane Idalia made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on the state’s Gulf Coast in the waning days of August.

We’ve removed the storm drain. We’ve got our generators all checked and full. We’re doing everything that we need to be prepared to face a tropical storm,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said.

Blue Pelican Marina is located in Hernando Beach, a barrier island north of St. Pete and has a general manager named Christina lothrop. She said the public ramp was jammed Saturday with people launching boats.

Before closing Saturday, Lothrop planned to raise computers off the floor and sandbag and tape doors. Idalia put a foot of water into the store.

Betti Silverman, whose home in Crystal River was under an evacuation order, said on Saturday afternoon that she doubted her family would leave. The family had to move in after the water flooded her waterfront home, ruining boxes and furniture. But she said the forecast for Debby didn’t seem as severe.

The Causes of Hurricane Carlotta, Carltta and Idalia: Floating Bridge Construction in the Bay of Debby

The floating cranes were removed on Friday from the bridge construction project across the bay, and the crews fastened them to the barges. cranes were laid down on land.

For some, the name Debby summons bad memories of a 2012 tropical storm of the same name that caused $250 million in losses and eight deaths, including seven in the Sunshine State. That storm dumped torrential rains, including an astronomical 29 inches (730 mm) south of Tallahassee.

More than 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) off Mexico in the Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Carlotta continued moving westward with top sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph). Carltta began to lose strength Saturday and is likely to disappear into a remnant of storms.

Tropical Storm Daniel formed in the Pacific. It was more than 800 miles from the southern tip of Baja California and was not expected to land.

We don’t have enough first responders in our agency and among the other First responders in the county to go in and rescue people when the storm surge comes in,” he said.

In the county’s area, Sheriff Prendergast estimated that there were over 20,000 people in it. 73 people were rescued from the flooding caused by Hurricane Idalia. Prendergast said by phone that he hopes not to have a repeat with Debbie.

The director of the National Hurricane Center said there was a stall or meandering motion in the southeastern United States. “So that’s going to exacerbate not just the rainfall risk, but also the potential for storm surge and some strong winds.”

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the system will strengthen when it goes off the southwest Florida coast. Intensification was expected to proceed more quickly later on Sunday.

Wind and thunderstorms have spread over a broad area including southern Florida, the Florida Keys and the Bahamas. A hurricane warning was in effect for sections of the state’s coast with tropical storm warnings for the Florida Keys.