By: Summer Lin

Hurricane Debby hit Florida early Monday morning, August 5th, 2024, bringing flooding and strong winds. Once the hurricane hit, it ripped up trees and flooded the streets. Floridians made preparations for the hurricane, and they are expecting power outages.

The hurricane is expected to sweep through Florida, then through Georgia and South Carolina. It was expected to reach Georgia early on Tuesday and is slowly gaining strength, and citizens of all three states are preparing for the worst. Officials in all three states opened shelters and temporary areas for citizens to stay.

Brian P. Kemp is the governor of Georgia.
“It is critical that residents in potentially affected areas start making preparations and plans in case it is necessary to take quick action,” Kemp said. [1]

Landfall is expected in the Florida Panhandle. Anywhere from a five-foot surge to a ten -foot landfall is possible, and the citizens must be ready and take action whenever possible.

According to the AP News, a truck driver died early Monday after he lost control of his truck and hit a concrete wall in the Tampa area due to the flooding of the storm. A 38-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy were killed late Sunday when the car she was driving overturned off the wet road. A 14-year-old boy who was a passenger in the same car was hospitalized with serious injuries.[2]

Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted that this hurricane season would be busy, with 17 to 25 storms. Debby is the fourth storm recorded so far, with Alberto being the first, passing through Mexico during June 19, 2024 and leaving four people dead; it was followed by Beryl, which formed just a week later. Later in July came Tropical Storm Chris, which made landfall in Mexico.

Hurricane Debby is sweeping through Florida, causing floods and ending lives, but it is one of many storms. Everyone must be prepared to face these obstacles and must take action whenever they need to.

[1] Debby Strengthens Into Hurricane as It Approaches Florida
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/04/weather/florida-tropical-storm-debby.html

[2]Tropical Storm Debby threatens Southeast with potentially catastrophic flooding, record-setting rain
https://apnews.com/article/hurricane-debby-flooding-storm-surge-high-winds-eb9fc50d578826784824f35ba943a6da