Parts of Florida are being threatened with tornadoes and flooding as a tropical storms approaches.
Forecast models show that Tropical Storm Debby is expected to move slowly this week toward the northern Florida Gulf Coast.
Predictions suggest the storm could unload as much as 10 to 15 inches of rain in some areas of the state, with isolated amounts of as much as 25 inches, the US National Hurricane Centre said.
Steady rainfall spurred by Debbie is expected to extend to southern areas of Georgia and South Carolina.
Tornadoes were possible in the eastern Panhandle, along with western and central parts of Florida and southern Georgia, it warned.
The storm’s maximum sustained winds decreased slightly to 45 miles per hour from 50 miles per hour and forecasts predict there would be little change in its strength over the next couple of days.
Debby, the first named storm of 2012 to move into the Gulf of Mexico, was centered about 75 miles south of Apalachicola, Florida.
It has already developed tornadoes that killed a woman, severely injured a child and wrecked homes in rural central Florida.