Hurricane Debby makes landfall in U.S. state Florida

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) — Hurricane Debby made landfall Monday morning near the coastal town of Steinhatchee in the U.S. state of Florida with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, leaving more than 250,000 homes and businesses without power.
The outages occurred from Wakulla to Levy County. In Taylor County, where Hurricane Debby made landfall at 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT), more than 97 percent of utility customers were without power, according to Poweroutage.us.
Nearly 1,200 flights had been canceled and close to 850 were delayed on Monday, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.
The Federal Aviation Administration said all flights at Orlando International Airport have been grounded while airports in Tallahassee and Gainesville were closed.
The National Hurricane Center warned of a “life-threatening situation” and “major flood threat” in the Southeast while Debby’s powerful winds could spawn tornadoes, adding that “there is a danger of life-threatening inundation, from rising water moving inland from the coastline.”
On Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden declared an emergency across Florida, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said at a news conference on Monday morning that the Florida National Guard and other agencies were poised to help with water rescues, power restoration and aid distribution as the storm passes, warning that the deluge could continue for several days.
Debby is expected to decrease in forward speed as it turns toward the northeast and the east on Monday and through Tuesday, the hurricane center said.
The eye of the storm is expected to move across northern Florida and southern Georgia Monday and Tuesday and be near the Georgia coast by Tuesday night. ■