Tropical Storm Debby Bringing “Once In A Thousand Years” Rainfall To Southeast

Hurricane Debby made landfall as expected yesterday morning, bringing a dangerous storm surge and estimated 80 mph winds. At least four people were killed from Debby in Florida as the storm moved ashore:

• A 13-year-old boy was killed when a tree fell onto the mobile home he was in yesterday morning
• A semi went into a canal off I-275 yesterday morning as Debby impacted Tampa, killing the driver
• Two deaths happened as a result of the bad weather before Debby made landfall, with a driver losing control in Dixie County, Florida Sunday night. The 38-year-old driver and one of her passengers, a 12-year-old boy, were killed. Another passenger, a 14-year-old boy, survived but was seriously injured in the accident

Forecasters say that the storm will continue to be a dangerous problem as it continues moving inland this week. Debby is expected to dump as much as 20 inches of rain onto parts of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas between now and Saturday, and forecasters say that maximum rainfall amounts could be as high as 30 inches in some areas. The National Weather Service says there’s a high risk of flash flooding along a band stretching from just north of Jacksonville, Florida to Wilmington, North Carolina over the next five days, leading to emergency declarations along the Southeast.

As of last night, only one tornado had been confirmed to have touched down; that was in Edisto Beach, South Carolina.