Linemen are working to restore power across Florida as Tropical Storm Debby creeps across the state after making landfall as a Category 1 hurricane.
More than 300,000 Floridians currently are without power, according to poweroutage.us. Most of the outages are concentrated in the Big Bend region and in north central Florida. But linemen already are climbing into bucket trucks and working, despite ongoing rain and wind, to fix lines affected areas.
Power companies across Florida, such as Duke Energy, had linemen staged to respond to the storm.
Debby is once again a Tropical Storm as it moves deeper into the Florida Panhandle, according to the National Hurricane Center’s (NHC) 11 a.m. advisory.
Maximum sustained winds have dropped to 70 mph, and the storm’s ground speed has slowed to 8 mph. Debby is expected to make a slow, northeast crawl over the next few days as a tropical storm, reaching North Carolina by Friday, Aug. 9.
Flooding and catastrophic rainfall continue to be among the most critical concerns.
A Waffle House in Alachua, Florida, remained open and at full capacity on the morning of Aug. 5 as the eye of Hurricane Debby spun no more than 30 miles away.
The Category 1 hurricane caused other restaurants to shut down, including Burger King, Zaxby’s, and Wendy’s.
Even before it evolved from a tropical storm, Hurricane Debby delivered immense amounts of rain and wind across the Florida Gulf Coast and inland counties over the past few days. It has caused flooding from a combination of intense rainfall and storm surge that has shut down roadways, and therefore businesses, across the state.
Hurricane Debby continues its push deeper into the Florida Panhandle after making landfall in the Big Bend region around 7 a.m. EDT on Aug. 5.
In its 8 a.m. intermediate advisory, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) stated Debby is “expected to bring major flooding over the southeastern U.S. during the next few days.”
Hurricane Debby had reached maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane.
TAMPA, Fla.—Officials told Floridians to stay off the roads as Hurricane Debby made landfall in the Florida Panhandle on Aug. 5.
“Now that Hurricane Debbie is making landfall, the most important thing to do is to just protect yourself and protect your family,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during a morning briefing.
“Don't go out into the storm. Don't drive on the roads particularly when they're flooded.”