Debby Knocks Out Power to 300K in Florida, Georgia

More than 300,000 customers were without power in Florida and Georgia on Monday afternoon after Tropical Storm Debby made landfill, down from a peak of more than 350,000, according to PowerOutage.us and Georgia Electric Membership Corp.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said about 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 during a briefing at the state's emergency operations center. "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."

With Tropical Storm Debby's winds and rain expected to worsen overnight, officials for Savannah, Georgia, and surrounding Chatham County announced that an overnight curfew will take effect at 10 p.m. Monday and run to 6 a.m. Tuesday.

The National Hurricane Center said the region can expect rain that could exceed 20 inches.

By Monday afternoon, the storm's outer bands were lashing Tybee Island, home to Georgia's largest public beach, blowing sheets of rain sideways and rattling street signs near the beach pier. The island of 3,100 residents east of Savannah was bracing for a potential double-dose of flooding from an expected 2-to-4 feet of storm surge on top of rainfall.

"This is unprecedented rainfall," said Michelle Owens, Tybee Island's interim city manager. "We don't know what that looks like. So, we have to be prepared for the worst. But we are definitely hoping for the best."

Public works crews used earthmoving equipment to heap sand over beach access points to help fortify a storm surge buffer offered by surrounding dunes. Owens said the city also distributed about 2,000 sandbags to island residents.

Angela Thompson had several sandbags ready by the front door of her ground-level apartment near Tybee Creek on the island's west side. She had just started moving in earlier this week and hoped to ride out the storm while unpacking.

"I have food and water and batteries and the things that I need, and I'm going to stay as long as I can," Thompson said.

DeSantis warned that just because Debby is moving toward Georgia, that doesn't mean the state won't continue to see threats as waterways north of the border fill up and flow south.

"It is a very saturating, wet storm," DeSantis said. "When they crest and the water that's going to come down from Georgia, it's just something that we're going to be on alert for not just throughout today, but for the next week."

Record-setting rain was forecast to cause flash flooding in coastal Georgia and South Carolina and into North Carolina, with up to 30 inches of rainfall in some areas, according to the National Hurricane Center. Debby made landfall early Monday as a Category 1 hurricane over Florida's Gulf coast near Steinhatchee, a small community of less than 1,000 residents.

The storm was moving slowly to the north-northeast and was expected to slow as it turns to the east.

The sheriff of Florida's Taylor County, where Debby came ashore as a hurricane Monday, said there are no deaths or injuries in the sparsely populated area located in the state's northern Big Bend region.

But Sheriff Wayne Padgett advised anyone who had evacuated from low-lying and coastal areas to wait before returning because the tide would be coming in and it's unknown how deep the water might get. Several roads are closed because of flooding, as well as trees and power lines downed by the storm, Padgett said.

No evacuations were planned Monday on South Carolina's Hilton Head Island, one of the state's most popular beach destinations. But Mayor Alan Perry warned tourists and residents not to let their guard down with forecasts predicting up to 30 inches of rain this week from Debby.

"We don't know how much rain is going to fall. But we have to prepare for the worst," Perry said. "If that happens, we will see an event we have never seen on Hilton Head before."

In a video posted on Facebook, Perry asked island residents and visitors to check on each other before the heavy rain starts – and maybe help the city out by checking storm drains.

"If you are able to go out and pull some debris from those drains so they can drain, that is really key to preventing additional flooding," he said.

Hilton Head Island has about 38,000 residents. Officials estimate up to 250,000 tourists can be on the island on the busiest summer days.

As Debby threatened to dump potentially historic flooding rain 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 is saturated after Savannah recorded 8.5 inches of rain in July, 3 inches above normal, according to the National Weather Service.

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 where the cocaine was found.

Nearly 30% 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 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.