Debby grounds flights, knocks out power to hundreds of thousands in Florida, Georgia (2024)

Tropical storm Debby made landfall as a hurricane in one of the least populated areas of Florida. Debby weakened into a tropical storm late Monday morning, with top winds hovering around 65 mph but forecasters warned heavy rain could spawn catastrophic flooding in Florida, South Carolina and Georgia.

About 350,000 customers were without power in Florida and Georgia on Monday, according to PowerOutage.com.

As Debby threatened to dump potentially historic flooding rains across southeast Georgia, more than 20 people in Savannah filled sandbags at a park in the city’s suburban southside. Rain soaked their clothes and mud stuck to their shoes. Officials are especially concerned about Debby because the area already is saturated after Savannah recorded 8.5 inches of rain in July, 3 inches greater than normal, according to the National Weather Service.

Jim Froncak tossed a dozen full bags into the back of his pickup truck while his son and a friend did the shoveling. Even though his home sits about 2 feet off the ground, Froncak said he won’t be surprised if a nearby ditch overflows with floodwaters capable of reaching his doors.

“A really heavy thunderstorm will fill it up,” Froncak said. “So whatever’s coming is really going to fill it up and flow over.”

City crews spent days ahead of Debby’s arrival clearing storm drains throughout Savannah. Some low-lying neighborhoods outside the historic downtown area had flooded streets from thunderstorms less than two weeks ago.

In the Florida Keys, Debby blew packages containing 70 pounds of cocaine onto a beach, the U.S. Border Patrol’s Miami sector reported Monday.

A “good Samaritan” found the drugs and contacted authorities, the agency said. The cocaine has a street value of more than $1 million, the agency said on social media. It didn’t say exactly where the cocaine was found.

Vice President Kamala Harris is postponing a scheduled trip to Georgia amid the ongoing effects of Tropical Storm Debby.

Harris’ campaign said her stop planned in Savannah, Georgia, on Thursday, was being put off due to the storm.

Harris is choosing her running mate and will introduce the choice during a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The pair will then travel together starting on Wednesday to a series of key battleground states: Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada. But the Georgia leg of the original journey has been canceled for now.

Debby made landfall in Florida on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane and was expected to bring potentially record-setting rainfall to Georgia and South Carolina as it heads east.

More than 1,600 flights were canceled nationwide by midday Monday, many of them to and from Florida airports, according to FlightAware.com. One out of every five flights scheduled to leave Orlando International Airport was canceled Monday, with just as many incoming flights canceled there.

Nearly 30 percent of flights scheduled to depart Tampa International Airport on Monday were canceled. High numbers of canceled flights were also reported at airports in Jacksonville and Fort Myers.

President Joe Biden was briefed on Debby’s progress while at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, the White House said Monday.

The White House said Biden on Saturday approved Florida’s request for an emergency declaration and that federal rescue personnel, meals and water have been deployed to the storm-stricken region. The administration is closely monitoring the storm and response effort with state and local officials, it said.

A 13-year-old boy died Monday morning after a tree fell on a mobile home located southwest of Gainesville, Florida, according to the Levy County Sheriff’s Office.

Officials reported other deaths as Debby moved inland.

A truck driver died early Monday on Interstate 75 in the Tampa area after he lost control of his tractor trailer, which flipped over a concrete wall and dangled over water before the cab dropped into the water below.

East of Steinhatchee, a tiny community in northern Florida near where the storm made landfall, a 38-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy were killed late Sunday when the car she was driving on a wet road struck a median and then overturned off the road. A 14-year-old boy who was a passenger was hospitalized with serious injuries, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Debby has weakened into a tropical storm with top winds hovering around 70 mph (110 kph). The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm was moving slowly to the north-northeast, and was expected to decrease in speed as it turns to the east. Debby made landfall as a hurricane in the Big Bend region of Florida, one of the state’s least populated areas.

Forecasters are still warning that heavy rain could spawn catastrophic flooding in Florida, South Carolina and Georgia.

Forecasters said storm surge was expected to be the biggest threat for Florida, with 6 to 10 feet of inundation above ground level predicted in part of the zone near the Big Bend.

“That part of the coast is a very vulnerable spot,” John Cangialosi, a hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center, said Monday. Some areas, including Sarasota and Manatee counties, have already received 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 centimeters) of rain.

In Georgia, the National Weather Service is predicting major flooding on some rivers: the Canoochee River near Claxton, the Ohoopee River near Reidsville and the Ogeechee River near Eden. All those rivers were below flood stage Monday but could see their water levels more than double by later in the week.

About 350,000 customers were without power in Florida and Georgia on Monday, according to PowerOutage.com.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said some 17,000 linemen are working to restore electricity. He warned residents in affected areas to sit tight until conditions are safe.

“When the water rises, when you have streets that can be flooded, that’s hazardous,” DeSantis said. “Don’t try to drive through this. We don’t want to see traffic fatalities adding up. Don’t tempt fate, don’t try to go through these flooded streets.”