Rich McKay
(Reuters) – Tropical Storm Debbie formed late on Saturday and is expected to intensify into a hurricane before hitting Florida’s northern Gulf Coast coastline on Monday, the National Hurricane Center said.
Forecasters said the storm turned into a tropical storm after spinning as a broad, loose system in the Atlantic for several days before finally breaking off the northern coast of Cuba on Saturday night as it was located west-southwest of Key West, Florida. About 100 miles away.
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that Debbie will become a hurricane before it makes landfall,” said Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center, urging people to heed evacuation orders.
The storm climbed into the Gulf Coast about 240 miles (386 kilometers) south of Tampa with winds of 14 mph (23 kph), with winds expected to increase from 40 mph to 70 mph as it intensified overnight. /hour or higher.
“This is a life-threatening situation,” the National Health Commission said in a report late Saturday.
Debbie was already causing storms, 40 mph winds and rough tides in Key West, Florida, on Saturday night.
“There are a lot of dangers, not just the wind,” Rohm said.
He warned that storm surge could reach 7 feet (2 m) in the Big Bend, Florida, area and was expected to hit the southeastern Florida Panhandle.
“Now, I stand six feet tall,” Rohm said. “So it’s beyond my capabilities,” he said.
He added that up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain was expected, with up to 15 inches locally, and more if the storm slowed or stalled over land.
Debbie is expected to travel through central Florida to the Atlantic Coast, climb to Savannah, Georgia, and then head to Charleston, South Carolina.
Surf conditions are expected from Bonita Beach north to Tampa Bay. These waves can send waves farther inland than normal, damaging structures and endangering anyone in their path.
Mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders were issued Saturday for parts of three Florida Gulf Coast counties: Pasco, Hernando and Citrus.
Tropical storm warnings are in effect for southernmost parts of Florida and extend north to the Fort Myers area, which was devastated by Hurricane Ian in 2022.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has called out 3,000 National Guard personnel and issued emergency orders for most of the state’s cities and counties ahead of expected landfall.
U.S. forecasters expect a large number of Atlantic hurricanes to form during the 2024 hurricane season, which begins on June 1, with four to seven major hurricanes among the 25 named storms. That’s more than the record-setting hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
So far this year, only one hurricane, Hurricane Beryl, has formed in the Atlantic Ocean. The earliest Category 5 storm ever recorded, it swept through the Caribbean and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula before plunging the Texas Gulf Coast into a Category 1 storm with winds of up to 95 mph.
Debbie is expected to follow a similar trajectory to 2022’s deadly Hurricane Ian, which killed at least 103 people and caused billions of dollars in damage in Florida as it traveled along the Gulf Coast.
