Tropical depression 4 strengthened into Tropical Storm Debby on Saturday as the storm continued to move through Gulf of Mexico toward Florida.
While we’re still uncertain about the storm’s exact path and strength, it’s likely that the Big Bend region will experience the most impact. For Central Florida, the main concerns are heavy rain causing flash flooding and the potential for isolated tornadoes.
News 6 spoke with Kevin Guthrie, director for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, on Saturday.
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“We’ve got personnel, tens of thousands of personnel, stationed throughout the state ready to respond in real time to this disaster,” Guthrie told News 6 anchor Erik von Ancken.
If the storm follows the right side of the forecast cone, Central Florida could see more significant effects. Tropical storm watches are in effect for Polk and Lake counties, and a tropical storm warning and flood watch are in effect for Sumter County.
Even if Central Florida doesn’t take a direct hit, Guthrie said we are not out of the danger zone yet.
“If you look at precipitation historic rainfall amount for the state of Florida, most of the area above I-4 is saturated by 4 to 8 in more rain in the last 30 days than what we typically get,” Guthrie said. “So the ground is super saturated right now. It’s not going to take a wind gust of more than 35-40 mph to bring over some trees into power lines, but also 4 inches may very well cause flash flooding.”
Guthrie advised residents that if they live in a low-lying area in Central Florida to be ready to head to higher ground – to a friend or relative’s house.
“It is a looming disaster. It is going to happen ,you know we’re not trying to be fear mongers or anything like that, we want to make sure people understand,” Guthrie said.
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