Governors In 3 States Declare Emergencies As Hurricane Debby Pounds Florida And Threatens East Coast

Hurricane Debby made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on Florida’s Big Bend today, missing ‘Wall Street of the South’—otherwise known as South Florida. 

Besides watching main equity indexes around the world crash—such as Japan’s Nikkei, which closed down 12.4%—the largest single-day percentage decline since 1987—some folks are also watching radar maps and forecast models of Debby, with tropical threat risks emerging up and down the East Coast this week. 

The National Hurricane Center wrote on X that Debby made landfall near Steinhatchee in Florida’s Big Bend around 0700 ET, moving north-northeast at 10 mph. 

After landfall, Debby is expected to dump 20-30 inches of rain across northern Florida and other surrounding states, including areas still recovering from Hurricane Idalia in August 2023. NBC News’ Marissa Parra called Debby “Idalia 2.0.” 

As the storm approached, evacuation orders were issued or planned for Monday in areas where the storm surge could be over ten feet. 

As noted by Epoch Times, several governors have issued emergency declarations across the Southeast:

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.

NHC’s potential storm track shows Debby is set to hammer Georgia and the Carolinas early this week. 

Other weather models show the storm’s potential track is set to ride up along the East Coast through the end of the week. 

Tropical threats are a welcome sign for parts of the Southeast, Mid-Alantic, and Northeast plagued by droughts this summer. 

In other related weather events, peak summer in the Lower 48 has ended, and temperatures, on average, should soon begin to trend lower. 

Keep an eye on Debby’s track, East Coasters—the storm could disrupt travel plans to the beach or elsewhere in the cone of uncertainty.