UPDATE: August 4,
2024 at 8:00 p.m. ET
The U.S. National
Hurricane Center (NHC) has announced that Tropical Storm Debby is projected to
rapidly develop into a hurricane by midday on Monday before making landfall on the
Big Bend region of Florida's Gulf Coast. The NHC has warned of life-threatening
ocean surges and potentially catastrophic rainfall.
According to the
hurricane center, the storm could bring ocean surges up to 10 feet (3 meters)
in some areas. As Debby gradually moves northward during the week, it is
expected to deliver "potentially historic rainfall" ranging from 10
to 20 inches and cause severe flooding in Georgia and South Carolina.
"This is
going to be the story of this storm," said Jamie Rhome, the deputy
director of the hurricane center. "Its slow motion is going to dump
historic amounts of rainfall - potentially over 20 inches. You're talking about
catastrophic flooding."
In anticipation of
Debby's impact, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has called up 3,000 National
Guard troops and placed most of Florida's cities and counties under emergency
orders. Mandatory evacuations have been ordered in parts of the Gulf Coast
counties of Citrus, Dixie, Franklin, Levy and Wakulla.
According to Reuters, DeSantis has also
prepared more than 17,000 linemen and other electric workers to restore power
once the storm has passed. The governors of Georgia and South Carolina have
also declared states of emergency ahead of the storm, preparing for the
significant rainfall and potential flooding.
UPDATE: August 4,
2024 at 4:00 p.m. ET
As Tropical Storm
Debby draws closer to Florida, the U.S. faces significant travel disruptions. The
storm, which is expected to escalate into a hurricane by Monday, has already led
to widespread flight cancellations and delays.
As of 4:00 p.m. ET,
more than 2,200 flights traveling within, into or out of the U.S. had been
canceled on Sunday, while the number of delays exceeded 5,200, according to flight
tracking site FlightAware. Such major airlines as American Airlines and
JetBlue, which canceled 16 and 17 percent of their respective schedules, were the
most heavily impacted.
To accommodate
affected passengers, several major carriers are offering weather-related
waivers, allowing changes without penalties. These include American Airlines,
Delta Air Lines, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines and
United Airlines, according to USA
Today.
The storm has also
affected cruise itineraries. Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Elation adjusted
its schedule, returning to Jacksonville on Sunday instead of Monday. The ship
had embarked on a Bahamas cruise from Jacksonville on Thursday.
Royal Caribbean
International’s Symphony of the Seas altered its plans as well, bypassing a
scheduled stop at Port Canaveral on Sunday and spending the day at sea instead.
The ship is on a week-long Bahamas cruise that departed from Bayonne, New
Jersey, on Friday.
Meanwhile, Margaritaville
at Sea's Islander ship postponed its departure from Port Tampa Bay from Sunday
to Monday due to closed waterways. Originally set to cruise to Key West and
Cozumel, Mexico, the ship will now skip the Key West stop as a result.
Here comes Debby.
A tropical depression in the Gulf of
Mexico on the west coast of Florida is expected to strengthen into a hurricane
or a named storm imminently, according to the Weather Channel.
Although it took a while to develop and is
not as severe as past storms in the area, this one will still pack a punch with
high winds and plenty of rain. And that could disrupt travel. Debby is expected
to hit southwest Florida late tonight and into Sunday.
Not only is it expected to impact Florida
from Naples to Fort Myers to Tampa to Sarasota, it is expected to make a turn
and impact Orlando as well in the central part of the state. Forecasters also
predict it will hit the Panhandle in the state and affect Pensacola and as far
east as Jacksonville before barrelling up the East Coast into the Carolinas and
Georgia.
As of 2 p.m. on Saturday, there have been over 20,000 delayed flights worldwide, according to FlightAware, and over 3,000 delays in the United States. There
have been over 1,000 cancelations in the U.S. on Saturday so far.
Most major domestic airlines in the United
States have yet to issue waivers or change-fee notifications. In fact, the top
three airports for delays and cancelations so far have been in the New York
City area – LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark.
That will likely change as the weekend
progresses.
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