8-7-24 Hurricane Debby

: Published: 08 August 2024

Deadly Debby soaks region – at least 6 lives lost and counting

Emergency workers pulling up the remains of a semi truck and trailer that veered into the Tampa Bypass Canal off I-75, in Hillsborough County, where the driver was found dead, Monday, during Hurricane Debby. -Photo: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

By Tami Stevenson

After making landfall in Steinhatchee, Florida, as a Category 1 hurricane at 7 a.m. Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, Hurricane Debby, which was downgraded to a tropical storm hours later, raged through Florida, taking a similar path to Hurricane Idalia just one year ago. This storm differed from Idalia, moving at a much slower pace and with less wind intensity.
Although an official death toll has not been released, there have been...

six deaths believed to be related to TS Debby so far, according to news sources - five in Florida and one in Georgia.

Home in Levy County where a 13-year-old boy was killed. -Photo: Levy County Sheriff’s Office.

   Sadly, a 13-year-old boy was killed by a tree falling on a mobile home in Levy County on Monday morning.
   A truck driver was killed while driving on Interstate 75 in Hillsborough County. His 18-wheel truck went into the Tampa Bypass Canal around 2:35 a.m. According to a Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Facebook post, upon fire rescue arrival, the first unit found the truck mostly over the guard rail, with the front cab still out of the water. Shortly thereafter, the front cab became submerged.
   Remember Tropical Storm Debby from 2012? The path and speed are eerily similar. Instead of damage and destruction from wind, as with Hurricane Idalia, Debby crawled through North Florida at 7-8 mph, dumping anywhere from 10-18 inches of rain in less than 24 hours and causing emergency flooding situations for victims in its path with future river flooding anticipated.
   According to The Weather Channel, Live Oak was one of the worst hit inland areas in North Florida for heavy rainfall totals and flash flooding.
   Suwannee County Sheriff Sam St. John said, “We’ve got high-water vehicles and airboats for anybody that’s trapped inside their house, we would be glad to come to them. We’ve got some crews going alongside the river now just checking on everybody.”
   He said they are getting pods set up in different areas in Suwannee County - Live Oak, McAlpin, Branford, Dowling Park and Wellborn. The pods are equipped with bathrooms, showers, laundry areas and food distribution. He said they should have them set up by Wednesday.
   St. John added, “At this point in time, if you’re along the Suwannee or Santa Fe Rivers be cautious and monitor those areas because we expect flooding from Georgia coming down at some point.” He asked that everyone please be patient with them as they are doing their best to help everyone in need in the aftermath of this storm.
   Jon Little, Suwannee Valley Electric Director of Communications said, “We’re encouraged. We’re finding out there is not as much damage as Idalia, not as many broken poles, etc.” More lineworkers have been coming in all day from across the country to help restore power.
   They are setting up a base camp, provided by Storm Services, that will be able to sleep 350 lineworkers and feed 500 workers three hot meals a day.
   Little added, “We are working diligently to get everyone’s power restored as soon as possible and appreciate everyone’s patience during this difficult time.”
   As this paper goes to print, Debby is virtually stalled on the east coast, weaving back and forth between land and sea. It is now affecting Georgia and the Carolinas, dumping massive amounts of rain, causing storm surge and more tornadoes for the southeastern coast. So far, Tropical Storm Debby is predicted to be stalled through Friday before finally moving up through the east coast, and is projected to leave a wake of historic rainfall totals in its path.
In the days ahead, while traveling the roadways, if there is water in the road that looks too deep for your vehicle, turn around, don’t drown.