By: Olivia Ho

On August 4th Debby the tropical storm turned into Debby the hurricane only hours before it started affecting Florida’s Big Bend Coast. Extremely heavy rain and flooding is expected and is causing Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina to activate emergency resources, open shelters, and issue evacuation orders to the people who live in coastal areas.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis activated 3,000 state National Guard members, while fifteen counties issued evacuation orders to safeguard residents from anticipated storm surge and flooding. In total, fifteen countries have issued evacuation orders effecting thousands of residents.

“Residents in potentially affected areas must start making preparations and plans in case it’s necessary to take quick action,” says Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina.

The rainfall that will come due to this life-threatening storm is six to twelve inches of rain, however, in Georgia and South Carolina, ten to twenty inches of rain is expected. This will likely cause huge flooding which will be dangerous to those who are in Georgia and South Carolina.

This year’s hurricane season is expected to have many hurricanes due to the climate over the Atlantic Ocean. Take Beryl the hurricane as an example, it formed into a category 5 hurricane just one week after Alberto, which caused landfalls in Mexico that killed at least four people.

The hurricanes effecting the coast will also affect the lives of those living there, so preparing for Debby the hurricane is important. These storms raise an urgent question: how will the hurricanes affect us in the future?