As Debby plows closer to landfall, Ron DeSantis orders high level prep in Florida

As Tropical Storm Debby continues to strengthen in the Gulf of Mexico just west of Tampa, Florida officials are getting ready for the storm to strengthen to a hurricane and make landfall in the Big Bend or Panhandle areas Monday Morning.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has been monitoring the storm situation at the Florida Emergency Operations Center with Florida Department of Emergency Management leaders throughout the weekend and with the imminent approach of the storm, those officials are engaging in advanced relief efforts. As of the 5 p.m. update Sunday, the National Hurricane Center noted Tropical Strom Debby had sustained winds of 55 mph with gusts up to 65 mph and was moving north at 12 mph.

Forecasters had projected Debby would likely intensify to a Category 1 hurricane before landfall, but that hadn’t happened as of Sunday afternoon.

Still, throughout Sunday, DeSantis has warned Floridians on the Gulf Coast to brace for what could be substantial damage from Debby. Landfall is projected to hit early Monday morning as hurricane watches have been posted for counties just north of Tampa to counties in the Panhandle.

In addition, DeSantis has already ordered multiple steps to be put in place ahead of the storm including:

– FDEM has activated the State Emergency Operations Center to a Level 1 and is leading coordination efforts for the State Emergency Response Team.

– FDEM has deployed community-requested resources and personnel for storm preparedness assistance and to ensure critical infrastructure is protected from storm impacts, including over 670,000 bottles of water, over 287,000 shelf-stable meals, over 13,000 tarps, 3,600 sandbags and staff to support county shelter operations.

– FDEM is mobilizing four logistical staging areas in multiple regions of the state to ensure food, water, tarps, shower trailers, pumps, flood protection devices and staff can quickly deploy as requested.

– More than 9,400 feet of flood protection devices are being deployed to critical infrastructure sites to protect against flooding, including schools, health care facilities, public works, lift stations and roads and bridges.

– For the first time, the state of Florida and its partners are also deploying flood control barriers around utility substations as a new best practice to ensure power is maintained throughout the storm for as many Floridians as possible.

While the storm is projected to bear down on the Big Bend or Panhandle Monday morning, the trajectory of Debby is then expected to turn northeast through the inland areas of North Florida and into South Georgia with a likely exit into the Atlantic Ocean near Savannah. The storm could continue to impact coast areas in South Carolina and North Carolina well into the week.