North Florida began to feel the effects of Tropical Storm Debby Sunday with a host of wind and rain that has left behind a trail of power outages and road closures. The extreme weather has prompted Florida Gov. Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency.
Now ninety miles off the coast, the tropical storm is expected to make landfall Thursday, when conditions are expected to worsen.
“Tropical Storm Debby poses a severe threat to the State of Florida and requires that timely precautions be taken to protect the communities, critical infrastructure and general welfare of this State,” Scott wrote in the June 25 executive order.
The National Weather Service has placed Tallahassee under a flash flood warning as well as a severe thunderstorm warning as the storm makes its way further inland.
Tropical Storm Debby has also continued to cause power outages throughout Northern Florida, including 230 people in Tallahassee alone, down from 14,550 people affected Sunday, a press release from the City of Tallahassee stated.
The Capital Area Chapter of the Red Cross announced the opening of a shelter at the Florida State University High School at 3000 School House Road off of Capital Circle Southeast. For the event of the tropical storm only, the shelter has been designated as pet-friendly. CEO of the local Red Cross chapter Dan Samborn said Tallahassee residents must begin take safety measures in preparation for weather to come.
“We haven’t yet experienced the full force of this storm and it’s going to get worse before it gets better,” said Samborn. “Students need to be aware of the dangers of the storm. My advice to them is to stay inside if at all possible, don’t drive through large areas of water, watch out for hanging power lines and fallen trees. Just be as careful as possible because you can’t control what might happen.”
According to the National Hurricane Center, Tropical Storm Debby is making its way northeastward at a slow-moving five miles per hour with heavy rains and maximum sustained winds of 45 miles per hour, resulting in a high potential for flooding throughout the state.
“We’re getting into the middle of the storm now,” Samborn said. “I think we’ll begin to see the weather calming by late Wednesday or early Thursday but we’re still far from the end of it, and it looks like from here on out we’re just going to have to wait in and see what the storm does.”