Tropical Storm Debby hits Florida with floods, threat of record rain in Georgia and the Carolinas

HORSESHOE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Tropical Storm Debby slammed Florida on Monday with torrential rain and high winds, contributing to at least four deaths in the state and causing flooding before turning menacingly toward the Eastern Seaboard’s low-lying regions and threatened to flood some of America’s most historic Southern cities.

Record-setting rain was expected to cause flash flooding, with up to 30 inches (76 centimeters) possible in some areas, the National Hurricane Center said. Up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) was forecast in central and north Florida. A flash flood emergency was issued into Monday evening for the Lake City area, where up to a foot (30.5 centimeters) of rain had fallen and more was expected.

The potential for high water also threatened Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned that just because the storm was moving into Georgia, it didn't mean the state wouldn't continue to see threats as waterways north of the border fill up and flow south.

“It is a very saturating, wet storm,” he said during an afternoon briefing at the state’s emergency operations center. “When they crest and the water that’s going to come down from Georgia, it’s just something that we’re going to be on alert for not just throughout today, but for the next week.”

Debby made landfall along the Gulf Coast of Florida early Monday as a Category 1 hurricane. It since has weakened to a tropical storm and is moving slowly, covering roads with water and contributing to at least five deaths.

A truck driver died on Interstate 75 in the Tampa area after he lost control of his tractor trailer, which flipped over a concrete wall and dangled over the edge before the cab dropped into the water below. Sheriff’s office divers located the driver, a 64-year-old man from Mississippi, in the cab 40 feet (12 meters) below the surface, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

A 13-year-old boy died Monday morning after a tree fell on a mobile home southwest of Gainesville, according to the Levy County Sheriff’s Office.

And in Dixie County, just east of where the storm made landfall, a 38-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy died in a car crash on wet roads Sunday night. The Florida Highway Patrol said a 14-year-old boy who was a passenger was hospitalized with serious injuries.

In southern Georgia, a 19-year-old man died Monday afternoon when a large tree fell onto a porch at a home in Moultrie, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Nearly 200,000 customers remained without power in Florida and Georgia on Monday afternoon, down from a peak of more than 350,000, according to PowerOutage.us and Georgia Electric Membership Corp.

DeSantis said some 17,000 workers were restoring electricity. He warned residents in affected areas to stay off the roads until conditions are safe.

Airports were also affected. More than 1,600 flights had been canceled nationwide, many of them to and from Florida airports, according to FlightAware.com.

Sarasota, Florida, a beach city popular with tourists, was one of the hardest hit by flooding.

“Essentially we’ve had twice the amount of the rain that was predicted for us to have,” said Sarasota County Fire Chief David Rathbun in a social media update.

Local leaders in Savannah, Georgia, said flooding could happen in areas that don’t usually get high water if Debby stalls out over the city. With winds and rainfall expected to worsen overnight, authorities issued a curfew from 10 p.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday.

“This type of rain hovering over us, coming with the intensity that they tell us it is coming, it’s going to catch a whole lot of people by surprise,” said Chatham County Chairman Chester Ellis.

In South Carolina, Charleston County Interim Emergency Director Ben Webster called Debby a “historic and potentially unprecedented event” three times in a 90-second briefing Monday morning.

The city of Charleston has an emergency plan in place that includes sandbags for residents, opening parking garages so residents can park their cars above floodwaters and an online mapping system that shows which roads are closed due to flooding. Officials announced a curfew for the city starting at 11 p.m. as some of the heaviest rain is expected to fall overnight.

North Carolina is also under a state of emergency after Gov. Roy Cooper declared it in an executive order signed Monday. Several areas along the state’s coastline are prone to flooding, such as Wilmington and the Outer Banks, according to the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program.

North Carolina and South Carolina have dealt with three catastrophic floods from tropical systems in the past nine years, all causing more than $1 billion in damage.

In 2015, rainfall fed by moisture as Hurricane Joaquin passed well offshore caused massive flooding. In 2016, flooding from Hurricane Matthew caused 24 deaths in the two states and rivers set record crests. Those records were broken in 2018 with Hurricane Florence, which set rainfall records in both Carolinas, flooded many of the same places and was responsible for 42 deaths in North Carolina and nine in South Carolina.

President Joe Biden was briefed on Debby’s progress while at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, the White House said. Biden approved a request from South Carolina’s governor for an emergency declaration, following his earlier approval of a similar request from Florida. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he has asked Biden to issue a preemptive federal emergency declaration to speed the flow of federal aid to the state.

Vice President Kamala Harris has postponed a scheduled trip to Georgia. Harris’ campaign said her stop planned in Savannah, Georgia, on Thursday, was being put off due to the storm.

Debby made landfall near Steinhatchee, a tiny community in northern Florida of less than 1,000 residents. It’s not far from where Hurricane Idalia made landfall less than a year ago as a Category 3 storm.

Sue Chewning lives in Steinhatchee and weathered both storms. In her nearly 73 years of living in the area, she said she doesn’t recall any direct hits from a hurricane — until this one-two punch from Idalia and Debby.

“Some people may say, ‘I can’t take this anymore’. But I think for the most part … it’s a close-knit community and most of the local people, they’re going to stay, dig down, help each other,” Chewning said.

This story has been updated to correct that the Big Bend area is north of Tampa, not south of Tampa.

Martin reported from Atlanta. AP journalists Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Kate Payne in Tallahassee, Florida; Michael Schneider in Orlando, Florida; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; and Darlene Superville and Will Weissert in Washington, contributed to this report.

Tybee Island Department of Public Works employee Bruce Saunders uses a backhoe to pile sand as a barriers against storm surge from Tropical Storm Debby at a beach access point, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Tybee Island, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

The cab of a tractor trailer is raised from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, after the truck collided with a concrete wall, flipped over the wall, and was left dangling from the bridge. The driver was killed. The truck’s cab broke off and dropped into the Tampa Bypass Canal. Sheriff’s office divers located the 64-year-old man from New Albany, Mississippi in the cab 40 feet below the surface, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)

Carter Grooms, 25, of Tampa, wades through the streets in the Shore Acres neighborhood of St. Petersburg, Fla., Monday morning, Aug 5, 2024, as Hurricane Debby passed the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Dylan Townsend/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Flight departure information is displayed in Terminal B at the Philadelphia International Airport, Monday morning, Aug. 5, 2024, as passengers are deal with cancelled flights to the south due to Hurricane Debby. (Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

Passengers wait in line at American Airlines in Terminal B at the Philadelphia International Airport, Monday morning, Aug. 5, 2024, as they deal with cancelled flights to the south due to Hurricane Debby. (Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

City workers prepare to haul and cut a tree that fell down near the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Dartmouth Avenue, Monday morning, Aug. 5, 2024, in Oldsmar Fla., as Hurricane Debby passed the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Jefferee Woo//Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Storm chasers check the wind speed near a home on the Gulf of Mexico Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla. Hurricane Debby made landfall early this morning. (AP Photo/Christopher O'Meara)

A block wall, knocked over from storm surge, blocks a road near homes in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. Hurricane Debby made landfall early this morning. (AP Photo/Christopher O'Meara)

A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. The driver was killed. The truck’s cab broke off and dropped into the Tampa Bypass Canal. Sheriff’s office divers located the 64-year-old man from New Albany, Mississippi in the cab 40 feet below the surface, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.(Florida Highway Patrol via AP)

Flood water blocks a section of Dodecanese Blvd at the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks, Monday morning, Aug 5, 2024, in Tarpon Springs, Fla., as Hurricane Debby passes the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A bench is submerged in water near the R.E. Olds Park, Monday morning, Aug. 5, 2024, in Oldsmar Fla., as Hurricane Debby passes the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Jefferee Woo//Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Water almost reaches houses along Shore Drive East near R.E. Olds Park, Monday morning, Aug. 5, 2024, in Oldsmar Fla., as Hurricane Debby passes the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Jefferee Woo//Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A vehicle is disabled in the flood water along S. 22nd street, Monday morning, Aug. 5, 2024 in Tampa, Fla., as Hurricane Debby passes the Tampa Bay area offshore. ( (Luis Santana//Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A driver negotiates a flooded street in the Shore Acres area Monday morning, Aug. 5, 2024, St. Petersburg, Fla., as Hurricane Debby passes the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Max Chesnes/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Storm surge breaks over a small sea wall near boat docks, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla. Hurricane Debby made landfall early this morning.(AP Photo/Christopher O'Meara)

Savannah resident Roi Roizaken loads sandbags into his van as rain from Hurricane Debby starts to fall, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Savannah, Ga. Forecasters warned heavy rain could spawn catastrophic flooding in Florida, South Carolina and Georgia. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken at 8:16 a.m. EDT and provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Debby, lower left, a Category 1 storm over northern Florida, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (NOAA via AP)

Flooding is seen near homes as The Don CeSar looms in the background Monday morning, Aug. 5, 2024 in St. Pete Beach, Fla., as Hurricane Debby passes the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Max Chesnes/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A BMW sedan is stalled in high water along southbound US Alt 19 in Tarpon Springs, Fla., Monday morning, Aug 5, 2024, as Hurricane Debby passes the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Kim Paul, 60, and her dog, Diesel, in front of their Shore Acres residence, as floodwaters reaches nearly halfway up her driveway, Monday morning, Aug 5, 2024, as Hurricane Debby passed the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Dylan Townsend/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Carter Grooms, 25, of Tampa, wades through the streets in the Shore Acres neighborhood of St. Petersburg, Fla., Monday morning, Aug 5, 2024, as Hurricane Debby passed the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Dylan Townsend/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A man walks through storm surge on the flooded road into Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Monday morning, Aug. 5, 2024. Hurricane Debby made landfall early this morning. (AP Photo/Christopher O'Meara)

A BMW sedan is stalled in high water along southbound US Alt 19 in Tarpon Springs, Fla., Monday morning, Aug 5, 2024, as Hurricane Debby passes the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Flood water blocks a section of Dodecanese Blvd at the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks, Monday morning, Aug 5, 2024, in Tarpon Springs, Fla., as Hurricane Debby passes the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A bench is submerged in water near the R.E. Olds Park, Monday morning, Aug. 5, 2024, in Oldsmar Fla., as Hurricane Debby passes the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Jefferee Woo//Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Water almost reaches houses along Shore Drive East near R.E. Olds Park, Monday morning, Aug. 5, 2024, in Oldsmar Fla., as Hurricane Debby passes the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Jefferee Woo//Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A vehicle is disabled in the flood water along S. 22nd street, Monday morning, Aug. 5, 2024 in Tampa, Fla., as Hurricane Debby passes the Tampa Bay area offshore. ( (Luis Santana//Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A driver negotiates a flooded street in the Shore Acres area Monday morning, Aug. 5, 2024, St. Petersburg, Fla., as Hurricane Debby passes the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Max Chesnes/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Flooding is seen near homes as The Don CeSar looms in the background Monday morning, Aug. 5, 2024 in St. Pete Beach, Fla., as Hurricane Debby passes the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Max Chesnes/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken at 8:11 a.m. EDT and provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Debby, a Category 1 storm over northern Florida, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (NOAA via AP)

This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken at 8:16 a.m. EDT and provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Debby, lower left, a Category 1 storm over northern Florida, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (NOAA via AP)

A pedestrian wades across a flooded street as a result of Tropical Storm Debby in the Shore Acres area of St. Petersburg, Fla., on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (Max Chesnes/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Floodwaters cover parts of the Shore Acres neighborhood of St. Petersburg, Fla., as a result of Tropical Storm Debby Sunday afternoon, Aug. 4, 2024. (Dylan Townsend/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A trio of fishermen take advantage of the favorable weather conditions along Suncoast Key in Ozello, Fla., before Tropical Storm Debby makes landfall on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Christopher O'Meara)

A vehicle drives through a flooded street as Tropical Storm Debby approaches Florida, on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024 in Gulfport, Fla. (Dylan Townsend/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Visitors to the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks navigate a flooded street on Sunday, Aug 4, 2024 in Tarpon Springs, Fla., as Tropical Storm Debby stirs moisture offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Landon Stanley pulls his friends Jakob Jackson and Emerson Porcelli-Wilson in the waters flooding the streets from Tropical Storm Debby on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024 in Tampa, Fla. (Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A man struggles to secure construction equipment against of the surf, pushed by winds from Tropical Storm Debby, in Cedar Key, Fla., on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Christopher O'Meara)

St. Petersburg Stormwater Management workers Mariano Morales, left, and Brad Sharp, work to clear debris from a flooded street in Shore Acres during Tropical Storm Debby Sunday afternoon, Aug. 4, 2024. (Dylan Townsend/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A man takes photos of the surf pushed by winds from Tropical Storm Debby as they break over the sea wall in Cedar Key, Fla., on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Christopher O'Meara)

Mabrey Shaffmaster, left, carries her nephew, Arlo Hoggard, 3, left, as her sister, Morgan Hoggard, carries nine-month-old son Ace Hoggard through a flooded street as Tropical Storm Debby approaches Florida on on Sunday, Aug 4, 2024 in Tarpon Springs, Fla. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

This National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite image taken at 11:11pm ET shows Hurricane Debby approaching Florida on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (NOAA via AP)

A driver negotiates a flooded street as Tropical Storm Debby passes just to the west of the Tampa Bay, Fla., region, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (Max Chesnes/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two U.S. Navy pilots were shot down Sunday over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the U.S military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of America targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one suffering minor injuries. But the shootdown underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become over the ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite U.S. and European military coalitions patrolling the area.

The U.S. military had conducted airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the time, though the U.S. military’s Central Command did not elaborate on what their mission was and did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press.

The F/A-18 shot down had just flown off the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, Central Command said. On Dec. 15, Central Command acknowledged the Truman had entered the Mideast, but hadn't specified that the carrier and its battle group was in the Red Sea.

“The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18,” Central Command said in a statement.

From the military's description, the aircraft shot down was a two-seat F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet assigned to the “Red Rippers” of Strike Fighter Squadron 11 out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.

It wasn't immediately clear how the Gettysburg could mistake an F/A-18 for an enemy aircraft or missile, particularly as ships in a battle group remain linked by both radar and radio communication.

However, Central Command said that warships and aircraft earlier shot down multiple Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the rebels. Incoming hostile fire from the Houthis has given sailors just seconds to make decisions in the past.

Since the Truman's arrival, the U.S. has stepped up its airstrikes targeting the Houthis and their missile fire into the Red Sea and the surrounding area. However, the presence of an American warship group may spark renewed attacks from the rebels, like what the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower saw earlier this year. That deployment marked what the Navy described as its most intense combat since World War II.

On Saturday night and early Sunday, U.S. warplanes conducted airstrikes that shook Sanaa, the capital of Yemen that the Houthis have held since 2014. Central Command described the strikes as targeting a “missile storage facility” and a “command-and-control facility,” without elaborating.

Houthi-controlled media reported strikes in both Sanaa and around the port city of Hodeida, without offering any casualty or damage information. In Sanaa, strikes appeared particularly targeted at a mountainside known to be home to military installations. The Houthis later acknowledged the aircraft being shot down in the Red Sea.

The Houthis have targeted about 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023 after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage.

Israel’s grinding offensive in Gaza has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, local health officials say. The tally doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.

The Houthis have seized one vessel and sunk two in a campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by separate U.S.- and European-led coalitions in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have also included Western military vessels.

The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.

The Houthis also have increasingly targeted Israel itself with drones and missiles, resulting in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.

The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64) steams in the Mediterranean Sea, Dec. 15, 2025. (Kaitlin Young/U.S. Navy via AP)

FILE - Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is moored near Split, Croatia, Feb. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File)

FILE - A fighter jet maneuvers on the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)