News Desk

Hurricane Debby has caused at least five fatalities after hitting Florida and subsequently weakening to a tropical storm.

The storm is anticipated to bring significant flooding to parts of Georgia and the Carolinas in the coming days. The National Hurricane Center has issued a warning about a “life-threatening” flood risk due to the “slow-moving storm” that is dumping “torrential rains.” Debby made landfall on Monday morning as a Category 1 hurricane in Florida’s Big Bend region along the Gulf Coast.

On Monday night around 150,000 homes and businesses in Florida were without power. Additionally, 36,000 residents in Georgia and South Carolina were also experiencing power outages.

Authorities reported that among the fatalities were a 13-year-old boy who died when a tree collapsed onto a mobile home in Levy County near Gainesville, and a truck driver in Hillsborough County who was found dead after his 18-wheeler crashed into a canal.

In Dixie County, west of Gainesville, a woman and a 12-year-old were killed in a car crash on Sunday night. Additionally, in southern Georgia, a 19-year-old died when a large tree fell onto a porch in Moultrie, according to local media. Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the hurricane center, warned that the storm’s slow movement could lead to “catastrophic flooding.

The US Border Patrol reported that Debby’s waves and strong winds washed ashore 25 packages of cocaine, valued at over $1 million, in the Florida Keys.