Roger Heim (right) and Terry Smith (second from right), both of Valrico, Fla., fill sandbags in preparation for the weekend storm at Edward Medard Conservation Park in Plant City, Fla.
Chris O’Meara/AP
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Chris O’Meara/AP
The National Hurricane Center issued a new bulletin Saturday warning that a tropical storm, Debby, is approaching parts of the Florida Keys through the Gulf of Mexico.
The weather is moving east, just north of Cuba’s capital Havana and a little over 100 miles from Key West.
The bulletin said maximum sustained winds were around 40 mph and the storm was moving at around 15 mph.
All points in the Florida Keys, west of the Seven Mile Bridge, are under a Tropical Storm Warning, along with much of the state’s west coast — from near Gainesville all the way south to the Everglades.
Such warnings indicate that the NHC expects tropical storms to develop in those areas by Sunday night.
Hurricane warnings are also now in effect farther north, across a roughly 200-mile stretch of narrow land from Indian Pass down to Yankeetown, with the worst conditions expected to hit the coast early Monday morning.
Storm surge is also forecast to hit large swaths of Florida’s west coast, and up to 15 inches of rain could fall in some parts of the state and across the Southeast over the next few days.
The NHC said winds will gradually increase in the coming hours and larger surf in the coming days could also lead to “life-threatening surf and rip currents.”
The governors of Florida and Georgia have declared state emergencies in preparation for Saturday.
Tropical Storm Debby is the fourth named storm of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Chris formed in June.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
