Debby Makes Landfall in Big Bend

BY Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Hurricane Debby made landfall about 7 a.m. Monday near Steinhatchee with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, bringing the rural Big Bend region its second hurricane in less than a year, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Debby is expected to slow and turn northeast, meandering across North Florida and Southeast Georgia later Monday, with the hurricane center saying it could produce “catastrophic flooding in some locations.”

The storm is expected to move off the southeast U.S. coast late Tuesday, and it could potentially come back inland over South Carolina on Thursday.

Steinhatchee is in Taylor County, roughly 90 miles south of Tallahassee. On Aug. 30, 2023, Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Taylor County’s Keaton Beach with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph and storm surge of 7 to 12 feet along the coast. It then caused widespread damage as it moved across North Florida.

Debby, potentially a historic rainmaker, started pounding the Gulf Coast on Sunday, and more than 150,000 utility customers were without power Monday morning, including more than 25,000 Duke Energy Florida customers in the Tampa Bay region.

The state Division of Emergency Management said tornado watches and warnings were in effect across the state.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is scheduled to hold a 7:30 a.m. news conference on the storm at the state Emergency Operations Center.