Summary
Debby expected to become a hurricane before making landfall on Florida’s Gulf coast. Hurricane center forecasted life-threatening conditions, including storm surges up to 7ft (2 meters) Storm may bring “potentially historic rainfall” of between 10 and 20in (25-50cm)
As of 11am EDT (1500 GMT) Debby was about 130 miles (210km) south-west of Tampa. The storm left Cuba’s northern coast on Saturday evening, when it was about 100 miles (160km) west-south-west.
Debby is expected to take a similar track as Hurricane Ian, which killed 103 people in Florida. Florida State University in Tallahassee will be closed Monday due to the storm. Forecasters expect a large number of Atlantic hurricanes in the 2024 season. Only one hurricane, Beryl, has formed in the Atlantic this year.
