Tropical Storm Debby gained strength on Sunday as it churned toward Florida, where meteorologists expect it to reach land as a hurricane. They also are on the lookout for flooding along the southeast Atlantic coast.
The storm was likely to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane before making landfall Monday in the Big Bend region of Florida, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
Hurricane watchers expect the storm to swirl eastward over northern Florida and then stall over the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina. Those areas may get hit with record-setting rains of as much as 30 inches (76 centimeters) starting on Tuesday.
Weather officials warned of a dangerous storm surge along Florida’s Gulf Coast, with six to 10 feet of potentially catastrophic inundation expected Monday between the Ochlockonee and Suwannee rivers.
Some Gulf Coast counties issued mandatory evacuation orders, while others called for voluntary evacuations.
School districts and government offices along Florida’s Gulf Coast and in state capital Tallahassee announced closures ahead of the storm’s arrival.