Multiple people, including a teenage boy, are dead after Hurricane Debby made landfall in Florida Monday, bringing torrential rain, flooding, and devastating winds.
The small town of Steinhatchee was hit around 7:00 a.m. local time with 80-mile-per-hour winds. The storm then moved from the Big Bend coast of Florida through northern parts of the state before it was downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm.
This is the second time in less than a year that Steinhatchee has been hit by a hurricane, as Hurricane Idalia first made landfall about 20 miles away on August 26, 2023.
“Two in less than a year is pretty bad,” local resident Chris Williams told the Associated Press. “You do everything you can possibly do to prepare. And when you’ve done that, clean up and put it back together and move forward.”
Hundreds of thousands throughout Florida and Georgia are without power, and there is widespread flooding and other risks. Four people have already been reported dead due to storm conditions.
Law enforcement in Levy County announced that a tree fell on a mobile home there, killing a 13-year-old boy.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with this family as they deal with this tragedy,” said the Levy County sheriff’s office. “We encourage everyone to use extreme caution as they begin to assess and clean up the damage. Downed powerlines and falling trees are among the many hazards.”
A truck driver was also killed after the vehicle ended up in a bypass canal off of Interstate 75 in Hillsborough County.
“We send our condolences to the driver’s family,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “Even the harshest conditions didn’t stop our deputies working swiftly in this tragic situation.”
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Two other people were killed Sunday night after a 38-year-old woman in Dixie County lost control of her vehicle “due to the inclement weather and wet roadway,” leading to her death and also killing a 12-year-old boy. A 14-year-old boy was also in the vehicle and hospitalized after the accident.
Portions of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas are expected to be inundated with rain.
Florida officials are warning that floods could be a danger for days after the storm passes. Florida Division of Emergency Management executive director Kevin Guthrie said Monday that the chance of flooding “is probably going to be here for the next five to seven days, maybe as long as 10 days depending on how much rainfall we get.”
Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis told people not to drive through flooded areas.
“When the water rises, when you have streets that can be flooded, that’s hazardous,” he said. “Don’t try to drive through this. We don’t want to see traffic fatalities adding up.”
About 272,000 customers are without power in Florida, and 24,000 have lost power in Georgia.
