Hurricane conditions are expected to arrive by late Sunday night or Monday morning, with the outer bands of the storm system making their way on shore during the day Sunday.
ByWatch Eyewitness News, First Alert Weather, and original programming.moves through the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters are focusing on two potential effects of the storm's slow speed: More time will allow the system to gain strength to become a hurricane, and if it lingers, the Southeast could see huge amounts of flooding rainfall over the next few days.
The strengthening storm tracking up the Florida Peninsula's western coast prompted county and state officials to issue a string of voluntary and mandatory evacuation orders as the hurricane center posted hurricane watches and warnings across several parts of the state, including near Tampa and the Big Bend region.
DeSantis called on residents to finish their preparations and to brace for power outages, "particularly in parts of the state like here in Tallahassee." "Conditions are favorable for strengthening over the Gulf of Mexico with warm sea surface temperatures and light shear. Intensification is likely to be slow during the first 12-24 hours, then proceed at a faster rate after the cyclone develops an organized inner core," the National Hurricane Center said.
In the meantime, county officials have urged residents in communities along Florida's Gulf Coast to evacuate ahead of the storm. Mandatory evacuation orders are in effect for parts of Franklin, Citrus and Levy counties, with voluntary orders issued in Hernando, Taylor and Pasco counties.As a slow-moving Debby churns along the Georgia-Carolina coastline heading into the new week, it could lead to seemingly endless amounts of rain for days, with totals potentially reaching up to 20 inches.
With an uptick in the intensity forecast comes an increase in the storm surge forecast. Storm surge is the ocean water pushing inland on the onshore winds of the hurricane. Storm surge flooding above ground could rise to 6 to 10 feet along Florida's Big Bend.
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