By: Ben Xu
August 4, 2024 — Debby transforms from a storm to a hurricane, with winds rising to almost 80 miles per hour. Forecasters say that the hurricane will hit Florida on Monday, August 5. Officials urge residents living in the cyclone’s path to evacuate.
As a result of the danger, officials activated emergency resources and opened temporary shelters. 15 counties created voluntary or mandatory evacuation orders covering thousands of residents in extreme flood prone areas. Flooding due to rainfall was expected to be 6 – 12 inches deep across areas of Florida. Storm surges, or in other words, rises of seawater, were expected to be around 10 feet in Florida.
The Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, activated roughly 3,000 members of the state National Guard to help react to the storm. However, Florida is not the only state that is expected to be affected by the hurricane. Georgia and South Carolina expect catastrophic flooding and historic rainfall. The mayor of Charleston said the city is preparing for “unprecedented” amounts of rainfall. Savannah alerted residents of “once in a thousand year potential rainfall event.” Both cities understand the hurricane’s extreme severity and urge residents to take this event seriously. Henry McMaster, the governor of South Carolina, said, “It is critical that residents in potentially affected areas start making preparations and plans in case it is necessary to take quick action.”
August 5, 2024 — Hurricane Debby smashed into Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 1, proving previous forecasts correct. Parts of Florida had more than 10 inches of rain as forecasters continued to warn residents of floods and storm surges. Additionally, around 300,000 energy customers had no power as a result of Hurricane Debby. At least 4 people died during the extreme weather disaster. Mr. DeSantis announced that 61 counties were put in a state of emergency because they were expected to be affected by the hurricane.
The hurricane landed only 9 miles away from Hurricane Idalia, which was a previous Category 3 hurricane. Hurricane Idalia was the most powerful hurricane to hit Big Bend Florida. Hurricane Debby is expected to land in areas that are still affected by Hurricane Idalia. This would cause devastation in lands already weakened.
Sources: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/04/weather/florida-tropical-storm-debby.html