Category-1 Hurricane Debby made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend area earlier today, powered by winds of 80 mph. The phenomenon has brought “historic amounts of rainfall” and the cancellation of over 2,200 flights across the affected counties, authorities have reported.
Forecasters predict that wins will lose strength through the day, but heavy rain will remain a serious threat as the storm continues to the East Coast into the Carolinas and Georgia from tonight.
“This is going to be the story of this storm,” said Jamie Rhome, the deputy director of the National Hurricane Center (NHC). “Its slow motion is going to dump historical amounts of rainfall – potentially over 20 inches. You’re talking about catastrophic flooding.”
This has been the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the area in over 125 years, as per the NHC.
According to flight-tracking site FlightAware, some 2,200 flights were canceled on Sunday and 6,300 were delayed as of last afternoon and counting.
If you had a flight scheduled for this weekend or the next few hours, seven airlines are providing travelers with weather waivers so you can reschedule your flight without penalty.
These flight carriers include Southwest, Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue, Frontier and American.
American Airlines and JetBlue are the two carriers with the highest cancelation rate, up to 17% of the total operations.
Cruise passengers have also been impacted.
Cruise passengers have also been affected. The itineraries and routes of Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Elation, Royal Caribbean International’s Symphony of the Seas, and Margaritaville at Sea’s Islander have had to modify their plans and calls.
“The safety of our guests, crew and communities we visit is our top priority. Along with our Chief Meteorologist, we are closely monitoring the progression of Hurricane Beryl, and are making adjustments to some of our Caribbean sailings for the comfort and safety of our guests and crew. Guests and travel advisors will be notified directly of any necessary changes,” told CNN, a Royal Caribbean Group spokesperson.
So far, massive flooding has impacted the Bradenton and Sarasota County areas up to North Florida.
According to the latest news, more than 248,000 Florida residents are without power right now, energy tracker PowerOutage.us revealed today.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has appointed nearly 3,000 National Guard troops to help manage life-threatening situations, as well as over 17,000 energy workers to restore power once it’s safe to do so.
Georgia and South Carolina governors have declared a state of emergency in their states in preparation for the storm’s imminent arrival. More flight cancelations are expected.