TALLAHASSEE — A Category 1 hurricane is forecast to make landfall Monday morning in North Florida’s Big Bend region, which the powerful Hurricane Idalia hammered nearly a year ago, according to the private meteorology company AccuWeather.
As the system, Tropical Storm Debby, started to move into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Saturday afternoon, AccuWeather meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said conditions will lead to strengthening of the storm. Conditions include above-average water temperatures in the gulf.
“The combination of these factors opens up the possibility of rapid intensification between Saturday night and early Monday morning, including the final hours right up to the point of landfall,” Buckingham said in a statement.
Tropical Storm Debby was forecast Saturday evening to make landfall Monday afternoon in the Big Bend area.
As a precaution ahead of the storm, Columbia County officials announced Saturday that it was closing the Columbia County Public Library branches and the County Extension Office on Monday and Tuesday, resuming normal operations Wednesday.
The Tax Collector, Property Appraiser, Board of County Commissioners, Environmental Health and Planning & Zoning offices also have been closed Monday but are planning to resume normal operations Tuesday.
Florida Gateway College also announced Saturday that its campuses will be closed Monday.
As of Saturday afternoon, AccuWeather had the system making landfall with maximum sustained winds between 74 mph and 95 mph, a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. But Buckingham said the storm potentially could intensify to reach the Category 2 level before landfall.
Idalia grew briefly into a Category 4 storm before making landfall in Taylor County as a Category 3 hurricane on Aug. 30, 2023. The National Hurricane Center, in advisories on Saturday, also raised the prospect of a hurricane hitting Florida.
“After the system crosses Cuba and emerges over the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the environmental and oceanic conditions appear favorable for intensification,” the center said in an advisory. “Due to the lack of internal organization, the initial intensification is likely to be slow. However, a faster rate of development is likely once the system gets better organized, and the cyclone is likely to be near or at hurricane strength when it reaches the northern gulf coast.”
Columbia County has sandbag locations available at Columbia County Public Works, 607 NW Quinten Street in Lake City; the Fort White Community Center, 17579 SW State Road 47 in Fort White; and Southside Sports Complex, 1963 SW Bascom Norris Drive in Lake City. There is a 15 bag per vehicle limit.
The City of Lake City also has sandbags available at its Public Works site, 180 NE Gum Swamp Road.
Sandbags are also available in Suwannee County at the Branford Fire Department, the Suwannee County Judicial Annex and the Live Oak Fire Department.
As of 2 p.m. Saturday, a hurricane watch had been issued from Indian Pass in Gulf County to Yankeetown in Levy County, according to the hurricane center A tropical storm warning had been issued from Yankeetown south to East Cape Sable in Monroe County and in the Florida Keys west of the Seven Mile Bridge.
Also, storm-surge watches and warnings had been issued for much of the state’s Gulf Coast.
“As you prepare your home remember that if you can pick it up, put it up!” the Florida Division of Emergency Management said in an online post. “Anything left outside could become dangerous projectiles in strong winds. Listen to all orders by local officials.”
The AccuWeather forecast included up to 8 inches of rain across the Florida peninsula and up to 12 inches in Northeast Florida. The hurricane center posted a potential “cone” showing the storm making landfall in the Big Bend and then moving east across North Florida and South Georgia.
AccuWeather also posted an advisory warning of tornadoes and waterspouts throughout the peninsula, rough surf and dangerous rip currents on both coasts, and rainfall totals of 12 inches to 18 inches in areas of the southeast U.S. over the next week.