WASHINGTON: Hurricane Debby reached inland in the Florida Big Bend region by Monday morning Eastern Standard Time, with major floods expected in the southeastern United States over the next few days, according to the National Hurricane Centre, reported Sputnik.
“Debby just inland in the Florida Big Bend Region… Expected to bring major flooding over the southeastern United States during the next few days,” the centre’s 8.00 am EDT advisory stated.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday morning, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Hurricane Debby had made landfall around 7.00 am near Steinhatchee.
He said about 143,000 Floridians were without power and about 17,000 linemen were ready to assist with restoring power. According to the poweroutage.us website, 290,649 customers in Florida were experiencing power outages as of 9.10 am EST.
Desantis said Hurricane Debby was following a similar track to that of Hurricane Idalia a year ago, but was travelling more slowly at 80 miles per hour.
He said that Debby was expected to move through north-central Florida into Georgia and the Carolinas and warned that it “has produced and will likely produce significant flooding events from the Sarasota Bradenton area to northern Florida.” – Bernama, Sputnik
