Tropical Storm Debby has been strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane as the life-threatening storm approaches Florida.
US forecasters have warned the hurricane, which is expected to reach land at around midday on Monday, could cause catastrophic flooding in Florida, South Carolina and Georgia.
The hurricane 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.
Debby was expected to move east over northern Florida and then stall over the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina, thrashing the region with record setting rains, totaling up to 30 inches.
Officials also warned of a life-threatening storm surge along Florida’s Gulf Coast, with 6 to 10 feet (1.8 to 3 metres) of flooding expected on Monday between the Ochlockonee and Suwannee rivers.
“There’s some really amazing rainfall totals being forecast and amazing in a bad way,” Michael Brennan, director of the hurricane centre, said at a briefing.
“That would be record-breaking rainfall associated with a tropical cyclone for both the states of Georgia and South Carolina if we got up to the 30-inch level.”
Flooding could last through to Friday and is expected to be especially severe in low-lying areas near the coast, including Savannah, Georgia; Hilton Head, South Carolina; and Charleston, South Carolina.
Officials in Savannah said the area could see a month’s worth of rain in four days if the system stalls over the region.
“This is going to be a significant storm. The word historic cannot be underscored here,” Savannah Mayor Van. R. Johnson said during a press conference.
The hurricane centre said Storm Debby was located about 100 miles west of Tampa, Florida, with maximum wind speeds of 75mph.
The outer bands of the storm have already grazed the west coast of Florida, flooding streets and bringing power outages.
Sarasota County officials said most roadways on Siesta Key, a barrier island off the coast of Sarasota, were under water.
At a briefing Sunday afternoon, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned the storm could lead to “really, really significant flooding that will happen in North Central Florida”.
The storm would follow a similar track to Hurricane Idalia but would “be much wetter. We are going to see much more inundation,” he said.
A hurricane warning was issued for parts of the Big Bend and Florida Panhandle areas, while tropical storm warnings were posted for Florida’s West Coast, the southern Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas. A tropical storm watch extended farther west into the Panhandle.
Mr DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 61 of Florida’s 67 counties, with the National Guard activating 3,000 guard members.
Utility crews from in and out of state were ready to restore power after the storm, he said in a post on X.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster made their own emergency declarations.
In Tampa alone, officials gave out more than 30,000 sandbags to barricade against flooding.
“We’ve got our stormwater drains cleared out. 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.
