On Saturday, Aug. 3, Debby became the fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, and began making its way up the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida’s Big Bend region after departing Cuba.
Many Tampa Bay residents woke up to rainfall on Sunday, Aug. 4 as Debby’s outer bands began to impact our area. Throughout the day, wind speeds began to pick up, reaching around 70 miles per hour at 8 p.m., after which time the storm soon reached Category 1 status.
Now that the worst of Hurricane Debby’s fury has passed by the Tampa Bay area, we’re here to round up the impacts to our home.
Power
It may be several days before we know the exact total number of people affected by power outages in the Tampa Bay area. However, around 40,000 people across Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco counties woke up on Monday, Aug. 5 with the lights out.
Duke Energy’s outage map offers live information and updates, as does TECO’s map.
Flooding
Standing water is causing issues across our region, with Pinellas County especially impacted after significant rainfall. Over 12 inches of rain fell in Pinellas Park, followed by 10+ in both St. Petersburg and Clearwater Beach, according to Bay News 9.
Some parts of Tampa also saw flooding, particularly in South Tampa and around Bayshore Bouelvard. If you see standing water, as the Tampa Police Department advises, “turn around, don’t drown.” Just six inches of water can stall vehicles.
Do your part
While the Tampa Bay area avoided the worst of Debby’s impacts, others around the Sunshine State were not so fortunate. The Red Cross is looking for volunteers + helpers. Local nonprofits like Feeding Tampa Bay and Metropolitan Ministries will also help those in need following the disaster.
