Hurricane Debby became a Category 1 hurricane after strengthening over warm waters and struck southeast of Tallahassee, Florida, USA. This is the latest evidence that the current tropical cyclone season will be very active. The storm had peak winds of 80 miles per hour (130 kilometers per hour) when it made landfall near Steinhatchee in the sparsely populated Big Bend region of the state on Monday morning. The site is not far from where Hurricane Idalia will make landfall in August 2023.
Months of record-breaking warm currents on both sides of the Atlantic have sounded the alarm, indicating that the 2024 hurricane season will be extremely active. In short, ocean heat is what powers tropical cyclones.
Debbie is the second hurricane to make landfall in the United States this year. Hurricane Beryl hit eastern Texas last month, causing widespread power outages.
Hurricane Debbie approached Florida on August 4.
Debbie is currently expected to bring flooding-causing rains to northern Florida and Georgia. According to data from Poweroutage.us, an agency that tracks utility outages, more than 200,000 homes and businesses were without power at 07:15 local time in Florida.
"This is a life-threatening situation," Richard Pasch, the center's senior hurricane expert, wrote in the forecast. "Historically heavy rainfall is possible through Friday morning in southeastern Georgia and South Carolina, with the potential for catastrophic flooding in some areas."
The White House said President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Florida and ordered federal resources to help the state. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp have both declared states of emergency in their states.