Hurricane Debbie hit the Gulf coast of Florida in the United States early Monday morning, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without electricity, while the southeastern United States prepares for potentially historic rainfall and severe flooding, writes UNN with reference to AFP.
Details
"Debbie" hit the coast of the Big Bend area in Florida as a Category One hurricane, the lowest on a five-point scale, thanks to the unusually warm Gulf of Mexico. The National Hurricane Center of the United States reported that its maximum constant wind speed was 130 kilometers per hour.
According to the tracker poweroutage.us, more than 250 000 consumers were left without electricity.
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) has warned of the danger of life-threatening storm surges along the Gulf Coast in Florida, with flooding reaching heights of 1.8 to 3 meters above ground level in some areas.
The storm is likely to cause catastrophic flooding with "potentially historic heavy rainfall" as Debbie moves northeast through Georgia and South Carolina over the next few days, the NHC said.
"We are considering potentially very, very significant flooding that could occur, especially in North-Central Florida," governor Ron DeSantis said at an emergency briefing on the storm on Sunday.
He and NHC deputy director Jamie Rome urged Florida residents to hurry up to prepare for the storm.
Mandatory evacuations were announced in parts of Sitrus County in Florida, and voluntary evacuations were announced in 8 other counties, local media reported.
The governors of Georgia and South Carolina declared a state of emergency before the storm arrived.
Authorities predict several days of heavy precipitation, possibly record levels, and likely severe flooding.
US President Joe Biden on Sunday approved a state of emergency for Florida, which will speed up federal aid.
DeSantis has enlisted the state's National Guard, with 3,000 troops on standby to help with the storm's aftermath.