Governors in 3 States Declare Emergencies Ahead of Expected Hurricane Debby

A man stands in the rain and wind as he looks out at the waves kicked up by Tropical Storm Debby, which is strengthening as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico, in Cedar Key, Fla., on Aug. 4, 2024. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Several governors have issued emergency declarations ahead of Tropical Storm Debby, which is forecast to make landfall in the Big Bend region of northwest Florida as a hurricane on Monday morning.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster have declared emergencies for their respective states ahead of the storm’s landfall. DeSantis issued an emergency order on Aug. 1 for 54 counties but expanded it on Aug. 2 to include seven more counties.

Kemp’s emergency declaration will be in place though Aug. 8 and impacts all 159 counties in Georgia.

“As the state prepares for a major storm system early this coming week, we urge all Georgians to take precautions to keep their families and property safe,” Kemp said in a statement on social media.

On Sunday afternoon, McMaster said in a news release that his office, too, declared an emergency ahead of the storm. The order did not say how many of South Carolina’s counties are impacted.

The storm is likely to become a Category 1 hurricane before making landfall Monday in the Big Bend region of Florida, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. The storm is forecast to strengthen as it moves in a curved manner near the southwestern Florida coast.

“Conditions are favorable for strengthening over the Gulf of Mexico with warm sea surface temperatures and light shear. Intensification is likely to be slow during the first 12–24 hours, then proceed at a faster rate after the cyclone develops an organized inner core,” the NHC said of Debby in an earlier update.

After striking Florida as a hurricane, the storm is expected to quickly downgrade into a tropical storm as it passes through Georgia and South Carolina. By the time it reaches North Carolina, Debby will be a tropical depression, according to the NHC forecast as of Sunday afternoon.

A hurricane warning was issued for parts of the Big Bend area and the Florida Panhandle, while tropical storm warnings were posted for Florida’s West Coast, the southern Florida Keys, and Dry Tortugas. A tropical storm watch extended further west into the Panhandle. A warning means storm conditions are expected within 36 hours, while a watch means they are possible within 48 hours.

When it reaches Florida, Debby is then expected to move eastward over northern Florida and then stall over the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina, drenching the region with potentially record-setting rains totaling up to 30 inches beginning Tuesday, officials say.

The flooding impact, which could last through Friday, is expected to be especially severe in low-lying areas near the coast, including Savannah, Georgia; Hilton Head, South Carolina; and Charleston, South Carolina.

“I’d urge all Floridians to be cognizant of the fact that we are going to have a hurricane hit the state, probably a Category 1, but it could be a little bit more powerful than that,” DeSantis said in a Sunday morning briefing.

“But we are absolutely going to see a lot of rainfall. We are going to see a lot of saturation. We are going to see flooding events,” he said. “There is also going to be power outages.”

On Sunday, President Joe Biden approved DeSantis’s emergency request and directed federal resources to the state, according to a White House announcement.

Debby 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.

Hurricane Idalia, a Category 3 storm, struck the same region in Florida between the Panhandle and the rest of the state in August 2023. Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 system, ravaged the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend region in 2018, reaching peak winds of 160 mph.

A storm that was also called Tropical Storm Debby made landfall in northwestern Florida in 2012, dumping as many as 20 inches of rain in some locations across the southeastern United States.