Florida braces as Tropical Storm Debby expected to strengthen into hurricane_2

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Tropical Storm Debby was expected to become a hurricane Sunday night as it barreled toward Florida's Gulf Coast. It would be the first hurricane to hit the state this season. Tom Hanson has more.

Transcript

00:00Good evening and thank you for joining us on this Sunday tonight more than 10 million people along Florida's Gulf Coast are on alert

00:07As the first hurricane of this season is set to strike the state right now

00:12Debbie is a tropical storm and gaining strength as we speak. It's fueled by the warm waters in the Gulf

00:18It is big and moving slowly making it very dangerous even life-threatening

00:23President Biden has declared an emergency across, Florida

00:27Multiple days of torrential rainfall are forecast across the southeast

00:32CBS's Tom Hanson is in Crystal River, Florida where the effects of the storm are already being felt Tom. Good evening to you

00:40Hey there Jerica, good evening to you as well

00:42You know, we are being hit by the outer bands of this storm and we've been watching as this inlet has gotten fuller and fuller

00:48Of rainwater. It's just one of many conditions that are gonna get worse as we head into the night

00:54Debbie is on a collision course with the Florida coast

00:58The storm is expected to strengthen into a category 1 hurricane before making landfall in the state's Big Bend region

01:05This is not necessarily gonna be something that just passes and then we don't see any effect

01:10You can continue to see flooding and you may even see a rebound of the storm

01:16Tens of thousands of people have already lost power and more than 1,500 people have been affected

01:22More than 1,500 flights have been canceled nationwide

01:27High wind warnings are in effect across the northern part of the state tonight with gusts expected to reach speeds over 75 miles an hour

01:37The main threat from this storm will be flooding

01:40storm surges could reach as high as 10 feet and

01:44States of emergency are in effect for Georgia and South Carolina where heavy downpours are expected to trigger widespread flooding this week

01:53And tonight, we're also learning that more than

01:5719,000 customers in the state of Florida are already without power

02:00Governor Rhonda Santis says thousands of workers are standing by to make repairs when it is safe to do so Jerica

02:07All right, Tom Hanson force in Florida. Thank you

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