VALDOSTA —
Tropical Storm Debby should bring some relief to drought-parched North Florida and South Georgia in the next few days, according to forecasters.
Parts of Florida and Alabama were under a tropical storm warning Sunday as Debby churned off the Gulf Coast, leaving wary residents to closely watch a storm system already inundating some areas with rain. At least one death in Florida was blamed on the weather.
Underscoring the storm’s unpredictable nature, forecasters discontinued a tropical storm warning for Louisiana after forecast models indicated Debby was less likely to make a westward turn than initially predicted. Coastal Alabama and parts of Florida, including the Panhandle, remained under tropical storm warnings.
Debby already had dumped heavy rain on parts of Florida and spawned some isolated tornadoes, causing some damage to homes and knocking down power lines. High winds forced the closure of an interstate bridge that spans Tampa Bay and links St. Petersburg with areas to the southeast.
Residents in several counties near the crook of Florida’s elbow were urged to leave low-lying neighborhoods because of the threat of flooding.
Debby was essentially stationary about 115 miles (185 km) south-southwest of Apalachicola, Fla., on Sunday evening. While storm tracks are difficult to discern days in advance, a forecast map predicted that the storm would meander north as the week unfolds.
Debby’s top sustained winds were at about 60 mph.
The Valdosta area can expect 2-3 inches of rainfall in the next few days, said Parks Camp, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Tallahassee, Fla., office.
“Debby should put a pretty good dent in the drought,” he said.
The region is about 5.5 inches behind normal for year-to-date rainfall, Camp said. Normally Valdosta and the surrounding region would have about 24.1 inches to date, but only 18.2 inches has fallen so far this year.
High winds shouldn’t be a problem for cities as far inland as Valdosta, Camp said. There could be an isolated tornado or two, and Valdosta will be on the eastern edge of the storm, the side more likely to
produce twisters, he said. “We’ll be keeping an eye out for that,” Camp said.
Near the mouth of the Mississippi southeast of New Orleans, Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said officials were making preparations to protect the main highway from tidal flooding.
At least one tornado linked to the storm touched down Saturday in southwest Florida, but no injuries were reported. Another was reported Sunday in Venus, damaging some homes.
Highlands County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Nell Hays said a woman was found dead in a house in Venus that was destroyed in the storm. A child found in the same house was taken to the hospital. No further information was available on the child’s condition or either person’s age.
“This is quite common with this type of storm,” senior hurricane specialist Stacy Stewart with the National Hurricane Center said of the twisters. “They tend to not be very large or long-lived, which can be difficult to detect on radar. So people need to keep an eye on the sky.”
However, despite warnings in the Panhandle, Debby hadn’t totally dampened vacations.
Thousands were on the beach at Pensacola Beach, Fla., on Sunday morning. Many used their phones to take photos of huge waves crashing into the concrete supports of a fishing pier. There wasn’t any rain yet; just gusty winds and dark, fast-moving clouds.
Few people were in the water. Red flags warned tourists to stay out of the surf, and lifeguards cruised the sand on all-terrain vehicles, blowing whistles at anyone who got near the waves.
Workers from rental companies used pickup trucks to gather chairs and umbrellas as a precaution against an unusually high tide.
As of Sunday morning, 23 percent of oil and gas production in the region had been suspended, according to a government hurricane response team. Employees have been evacuated from 13 drilling rigs and 61 production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
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