Debby is likely to bring drenching rain and coastal flooding to much of Florida's Gulf Coast by Sunday night.
A tropical depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Debby north of Cuba on Saturday and was predicted to become a hurricane as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico on a collision course with the Florida coast.
The National Hurricane Center said in an update posted at 2 a.m. Sunday that Debby was located about 65 miles west-northwest of Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida and about 230 miles south-southwest of Tampa. The storm was moving northwest at 14 mph with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph . The National Hurricane Center in Miami predicted the system will strengthen as it curves off the southwest Florida coast, where the water has been extremely warm. Intensification was expected to proceed more quickly later on Sunday.
Forecasters warned of "a danger of life-threatening storm surge inundation" in a region that includes Hernando Beach, Crystal River, Steinhatchee and Cedar Key. Officials in Citrus and Levy counties ordered a mandatory evacuation of coastal areas, while those in Hernando, Manatee, Pasco and Taylor counties called for voluntary evacuations. Shelters opened in those and some other counties.
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