Hurricane Debby, a Category 1 storm, made landfall on the Florida coast on Monday morning (5) near Steinhatchee, in the Big Bend area, driven by winds of 80 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The Big Bend area is still recovering from Hurricane Idalia last August, which struck the coast just 9 miles from where Debby came ashore on Monday. It was the strongest hurricane to hit the region’s coast in over 125 years.
Over a month’s worth of rain has already fallen in Florida, causing rivers to rise and fears of flooding.
A teenager died on Monday morning in Levy County when strong winds from Hurricane Debby toppled a tree onto his home. The 13-year-old boy was crushed inside a trailer, according to local authorities.
This is the first confirmed death due to the storm.
The severe weather caused the Federal Aviation Administration to delay flights in Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers — and the FAA says delays are likely to worsen.
Flight cancellations continue to rise nationwide, with flights out of Orlando, Tampa, and Miami being the most affected. FlightAware reports that by 11 AM EDT, airlines had canceled over 1,500 flights in the U.S. American Airlines canceled about one in ten of its flights on Monday, while Southwest Airlines canceled about one in twenty.
Debby is now expected to significantly weaken but leave potentially historic rainfall in Georgia and South Carolina, which could lead to catastrophic flooding.
The Role of Climate Change
Global warming caused by fossil fuel pollution is leading to wetter storms that strengthen more rapidly. Debby tracked over near-record warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, which helped the storm intensify quickly.
Source: CNN