Tropical Storm Debby slammed Florida with catastrophic flooding and was blamed for at least four deaths, with Georgia and South Carolina next in line as the system rips across the southeastern United States.
Record-setting rain was forecast to cause flash flooding in coastal Georgia and South Carolina, and into North Carolina, with up to 30 inches (76 centimetres) of rainfall in some areas, the National Hurricane Center said. Debby had made landfall early Monday as a Category 1 hurricane over the gulf coast of Florida.
The tropical storm was moving slowly across the northern part of the state, covering roads with water and contributing to at least four deaths.
A truck driver died on Interstate 75 in the Tampa area after he lost control of his tractor-trailer, which flipped over a concrete wall and dangled over the edge before the cab dropped into the water below. Sheriff’s office divers located the driver, a 64-year-old man from Mississippi, in the cab 40 feet (12 metres) below the surface, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
A 13-year-old boy died Monday morning after a tree fell on a mobile home located southwest of Gainesville, according to the Levy County Sheriff’s Office.
And in Dixie County, just east of where the storm made landfall, a 38-year-old woman and 12-year-old boy died in a car crash on wet roads Sunday night. The Florida Highway Patrol said a 14-year-old boy who was a passenger was hospitalized with serious injuries.
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More than 350,000 customers were without power in Florida and Georgia, according to PowerOutage.us and Georgia Electric Membership Corp.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said some 17,000 linemen are working to restore electricity. He warned residents in affected areas to sit tight until conditions are safe.
“When the water rises, when you have streets that can be flooded, that’s hazardous,” DeSantis said. “Don’t try to drive through this. We don’t want to see traffic fatalities adding up.”
