Hurricane Debby (2024)

Hurricane Debby

Debby near landfall in Florida at peak intensity early on August 5
Meteorological history
Formed	August 3, 2024
Post-tropical	August 9, 2024
Dissipated	August 14, 2024
Category 1 hurricane
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds	80 mph (130 km/h)
Lowest pressure	979 mbar (hPa); 28.91 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities	10 total
Damage	$7 billion (2024 USD)
Areas affected	Caribbean East Coast of the United States (particularly Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas) Quebec, Atlantic Canada
[1][2]
Part of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Debby was a slow-moving and erratic tropical cyclone that caused widespread flooding across the Southeastern United States and portions of Atlantic Canada, becoming the costliest natural disaster in the history of the Canadian province of Quebec. The fourth named storm and second hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, Debby developed from a tropical wave that was first noted by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) on July 26. After crossing the Greater Antilles, the system began to organize over Cuba and was designated a potential tropical cyclone on August 2. After exiting off the southern coast of Cuba, the disturbance organized into a tropical depression early on August 3.

Later that day, it became a tropical storm in the Florida Straits, being named Debby. It moved northwards and gradually intensified into a Category 1 hurricane before making landfall near Steinhatchee, Florida, early on August 5. Debby weakened once inland and began to slow down over the Southeastern United States, causing widespread flooding from heavy rain. It re-emerged in the Atlantic on August 7 before slowly moving northwards again, making landfall in South Carolina early on August 8 before weakening and becoming post-tropical the next day. It continued inland over the United States before traversing Atlantic Canada, after which it moved back out to sea.

States of emergency were declared for the states of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia ahead of the storm. Heavy rainfall was exacerbated by Debby's slow motion, with accumulations peaking near 20 inches (510 mm) near Sarasota, Florida as of August 7. Two dozen tornadoes were confirmed as the storm also moved up the East coast of the United States. In Quebec, rainfall totals peaked at 8.7 inches (220 mm), generating destructive floods. Ten fatalities have been attributed to the storm, and preliminary damage reports are estimated to US$7 billion,^[3] including US$1.8 billion (CA$2.5 billion) in Quebec alone.