strengthened into a hurricane late Sunday as it churned closer to an expected Gulf Coast landfall Monday, bringing with it the threat of life-threatening storm surge and rain totals that could reach 30 inches in parts of the Southeast by week’s end. show less
Debby, which formed Saturday and became the fourth named storm of the season, strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said at 11 p.m. ET Sunday. The storm is located about 100 miles west-northwest of Tampa, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.
The storm, fueled by warm waters of the Gulf, was moving northward at about 12 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said. Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 140 miles from the storm’s center.
“This potentially historic rainfall may result in areas of catastrophic flooding,” Richard Pasch, a senior hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center, wrote in a public advisory that warned of a “life-threatening situation.
