Aug. 5 (UPI) — At least four people have died as slow-moving Tropical Storm Debby slammed into Florida’s Big Bend area on Monday as a Category 1 storm packing sustained winds of up to 80 mph.
Debby, which was downgraded to a tropical storm by late Monday morning, dumped torrential rain across northern Florida along with life-threatening winds.
At about 8 a.m., EDT, a tree fell on a mobile Home in Levy County, killing a 13-year-old boy who was hunkered down inside with his family. The county’s sheriff’s department said the boy was crushed by the tree that severely damaged the home.
There was no report of anyone else being injured in the incident.
Two people, a 38-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy, died Sunday night in Dixie County after the vehicle they were in overturned on U.S.19 while driving through heavy rain produced by Debby. A 14-year-old boy was transported to the University of Florida Health with serious injuries.
The cab of a tractor-trailer fell into the water at the Tampa Bypass Canal early Monday after losing control, killing the driver after being found later Monday morning, Florida Highway Patrol said. The semi was southbound on I-75 when it lost control and hit a barrier before its cab fell into the canal.
As Debby slows down, it is expected to bring heavy flooding from heavy rain in Florida and Georgia on Monday with some forecasts predicting up to 20 inches in Savannah, Ga.
Debby created havoc on power, with the website PowerOutage.us reporting 300,714 locations without power in Florida and another 24,880 in Georgia.
