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Tropical Storm Debby live updates: Historic 10-20 inches of rainfall expected

Flash flooding is a threat for Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

Last Updated: August 6, 2024, 6:15 AM EDT

Debby is roaring across Florida and Georgia as a tropical storm after making landfall as a Category 1 hurricane Monday morning.

At least four people have been killed.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
11:44 PM EDT

Debby to bring historic 10-20 inches of rainfall: Forecast

Despite weakening since moving over land, Debby is still maintaining its tropical storm status, producing maximum sustained wind speeds of 45 mph.

A boat partially sunk as Hurricane Debby affects the gulf coast in Suwannee, Fla., Aug. 5, 2024.
Ricardo Arduengo/Reuters

As of 11 p.m. ET, over 150,000 customers in Florida and Georgia are still without power, according to PowerOutage.us.

With Debby's center about 35 miles west of Brunswick, Georgia, much of the heavy rain and showers have since moved out of Florida (except for the extreme northeastern corner of the state closer to the Georgia border). However, with the storm slowing down even more, Debby will stay stuck over the Southeast for the better part of this week, meandering over Georgia and the Carolinas.

Even though the storm is expected to weaken a bit more overnight, Debby is still expected to bring historic rainfall and life-threatening flooding to portions of southeastern Georgia and the coastal areas of the Carolinas over the next few days. Rainfall totals from this event are expected to reach between 10 and 20 inches.

Parts of Grange Fall Loop flooded making in Wimauma after Hurricane Debby continues to move north of central Florida, Aug. 5, 2024.
Octavio Jones/Reuters

Already, portions of southeastern Georgia and South Carolina have seen between 3 to 6 inches of rainfall, but with rainfall rates of 1.5 to 3 inches per hour possible, flood alerts remain in effect.

A Flash Flood Warning was issued for Charleston, South Carolina, where rainfall rates between 1.5 and 2.5 inches are expected. Ongoing or new flooding is expected, with an additional 2 to 4 inches of rain possible over the next few hours.

As onshore flow continues, storm surge remains an issue in Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina. Storm surge alerts remain in effect up the Georgia and Carolina coastlines.

Rainfall aside, Debby could also generate some spin-up tornadoes as it swirls over the Georgia-South Carolina border tonight. As a result, a Tornado Watch also remains in effect for parts of southeastern Georgia and South Carolina until 1 a.m. ET.

Over the next 48 hours, Debby is expected to meander back over the Atlantic but will continue to hug the coastline before heading back inland over the Carolinas again. Slight strengthening can't entirely be ruled out as it moves back over water, but ultimately, Debby is expected to weaken once it moves back inland. Strength aside, it will still bring significant rainfall to portions of the Southeast, which will likely lead to catastrophic flooding in some areas.

Debby is expected to eventually drift toward the north/northeast by the end of the week into the weekend. As it heads north, it will likely weaken to a tropical depression or remnant low. Regardless, heavy rainfall is still expected up the I-95 corridor heading into this weekend.

-ABC News meteorologist Shawnie Caslin Martucci

3:53 PM EDT

Debby tracker, maps: Latest storm path

On Monday, Debby is bringing very heavy rain from Gainesville and Jacksonville, Florida, up to Savannah, Georgia, where more than 20 inches of rain is possible.

Debby forecast track.
ABC News

By Tuesday, Debby is expected to stall over the Southeast, bringing potentially historic rainfall to Georgia and South Carolina. Up to 30 inches of rain is possible through Thursday.

Flash flood threat for the next 5 days.
ABC News

Click here to read more.

7 minutes ago

More than 150,000 customers without power, tracker says

More than 150,000 customers were without power early Tuesday in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, according to PowerOutage.us, a tracker of energy providers.

A couple walks along River Street as Tropical Storm Debby moves towards Georgia, in Savannah, Georgia, U.S., on August 5, 2024.
Marco Bello/Reuters

Florida had the highest number of outages, with more than 116,000, followed by more than 26,000 in George and almost 12,000 in South Carolina.

-ABC News’ Victoria Arancio and Kevin Shalvey

9:26 PM EDT

Power returns to some Florida customers as Debby moves northeast

As of Monday evening, 146,034 customers are without power in Florida, according to the latest update from a U.S. power outage map.

This marks an improvement from Monday morning, which saw nearly 300,000 customers without power at 9:50 a.m. ET, the height of outages across the state.

The threat of dangerous flooding continues at least through the middle of the week.
ABC News

During a press conference in Tallahassee Monday morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state's emergency department had 17,000 linemen working to restore power in the wake of the storm.

"We have a lot of restoration personnel ready to go," DeSantis said.

8:42 PM EDT

Debby weakening, but threats of tornadoes, heavy rain continue

Tropical Storm Debby continues to weaken, with maximum sustained winds down to 45 mph as of 8 p.m. ET. The weather pattern is moving very slowly to the northeast at 6 mph, and the center is currently about 50 miles east of Valdosta, Georgia.

The threat of dangerous flooding continues at least through the middle of the week.
ABC News

Even though Debby is now inland and continues to weaken, many of the impacts -- especially the heavy rainfall and dangerous flash flood threat -- will not abate for several days. For many locations in coastal Georgia and South Carolina, the worst is yet to come.

The tornado threat continues along portions of the Georgia and South Carolina coasts this evening and into tonight. A Tornado Watch remains in effect from Savannah, Georgia, to Charleston, South Carolina, until at least 1 a.m. ET.

Parts of Florida, including Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch, are reporting over a foot of rain from Debby, and portions of Suwannee County, including Live Oak, are getting around a foot as well.

So far, parts of Georgia, including Savannah, are reporting nearly 4" of rain. The same can be said for Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Tybee Island Department of Public Works employee Bruce Saunders uses a backhoe to pile sand as a barriers against storm surge from Tropical Storm Debby at a beach access point, Aug. 5, 2024, in Tybee Island, Ga.
Stephen B. Morton/AP

Conditions will continue to deteriorate across much of South Carolina overnight Monday into Tuesday, with widespread areas of heavy rain and the potential for dangerous, significant flash flooding during nighttime hours.

Coastal flooding and storm surges will continue to increase in the coming hours as winds increase and more persistent heavy rain moves in, heading into high tide along the Georgia and South Carolina coasts.

Beach goers walk near the Tybee pier as wind and rain from Tropical Storm Debby start to come ashore, Aug. 5, 2024, in Tybee Island, Ga.
Stephen B. Morton/AP

By late Tuesday afternoon or early evening, the center of Debby will likely be moving off the Southeast coast and into the Atlantic, where it will meander for about 24 hours before likely turning back toward the coast and potentially making another landfall as a tropical storm somewhere along the South Carolina coast by Thursday morning or afternoon.

-ABC News meteorologist Daniel Peck

7:05 PM EDT

More than 163,000 customers without power in Florida

More than 163,000 customers are without power in Florida, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks energy outages.

A Florida National Guard vehicle drives through a flooded street caused by the rain and storm surge from Hurricane Debby on Aug. 5, 2024, in Cedar Key, Fla.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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