Aug 05, 2024, 7:09 AM EDT
Debby makes landfall in Florida
Hurricane Debby made landfall near Steinhatchee, Florida, on Monday morning, the National Hurricane Center said.
-ABC News’ Max Golembo
Debby updates: Flash flooding, tornadoes target DC, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast
Debby will exit the Northeast on Saturday.
Last Updated: August 9, 2024, 5:10 PM EDT
Debby, which weakened from a tropical storm to a tropical depression Thursday afternoon, is slamming the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast with heavy rain on Friday.
Debby made landfall in Florida as a Category 1 hurricane on Monday and crawled up the East Coast all week.
Latest headlines:
- Aug 09, 2024, 5:10 PM EDT
- Aug 09, 2024, 3:32 PM EDT
- Aug 09, 2024, 3:30 PM EDT
Here's how the news is developing.
Aug 9, 3:30 pm
Latest forecast
Debby, now a post-tropical cyclone, is slamming the Northeast with heavy rain.
A life-threatening flash flood emergency was issued in northern Pennsylvania and southern New York due to fast-moving floodwaters.
A flood watch remains in effect for parts of nine states from South Carolina to New Hampshire due to the intense rain.
Showers with some downpours will continue across the Northeast through the evening. Tornadoes are also possible.
Debby will be gone by Saturday morning.
Aug 05, 2024, 5:20 AM EDT
Debby approaches landfall with 80 mph winds
Hurricane Debby is "very near" landfall along Florida's Gulf Coast, the National Hurricane Center said at 5 a.m. ET.
"Expected to bring life-threatening storm surge in portions of Florida and major flooding in the southeastern United States," the center said in an update.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The Category 1 storm had maximum sustained winds of an about 80 mph as it approached Big Bend, a northern area near the Panhandle, the center said.
-ABC News' Max Golembo and Kevin Shalvey
Aug 05, 2024, 2:44 AM EDT
Debby strengthens, with maximum sustained winds up to 80 mph
Hurricane Debby continued to strengthen, with maximum sustained winds rising to 80 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center.
AP
More than 10 inches of rain fell on the west coast of Florida, around the Tampa Bay area, where water rescues have been on going near Clearwater. Significant flooding also has been reported in Fort Myers area.
Storm surge has been rising quickly now along the Big Bend area in Florida, from Cedar Key to Keaton Beach, where up to 10 feet of Gulf water could inundate the coastline. The storm is forecast to make landfall in that area on Monday morning.
-ABC News' Max Golembo
Aug 05, 2024, 2:15 AM EDT
Coast Guard rescues 2 adrift in sailboat off Florida coast
Two people were rescued Sunday from a boat that was adrift in about 20-foot seas off the coast of Boca Grande, Florida, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The boaters were airlifted from their 34-foot sailboat after the vessel lost its sail about 73 miles off shore, the guard said.
U.S. Coast Guard
The sailboat had been on course for Tarpon Springs from Key West, officials said. A friend of the boaters contacted to the Coast Guard at about 5 p.m. Saturday, telling officials they had missed their check-in.
"We received an updated satellite position from the boaters' friend, which led to them being successfully located," Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Hooper, a search and rescue mission coordinator, said in a statement.
The boaters were rescued by a crew on an Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter at about 11 a.m. on Sunday, the Coast Guard said. They had been adrift in seas that were between 15 and 20 feet, with wind speeds at about 50 knots. Visibility was low.
The names of the people on the boat were not released.
-ABC News' Victoria Arancio
