Hundreds of flights have been cancelled amid predictions of “catastrophic flooding” as a result of Hurricane Debby in Florida and the US east coast until the weekend.
The hurricane, which has now been downgraded to a tropical storm, made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend area, near Steinhatchee, on Sunday evening, with winds of 80 miles per hour, according to the US National Hurricane Center.
Potentially ‘historic’ amounts of rain are now expected over the coming days over the southeastern states of the US, including Georgia and South Caroline, causing major flooding.
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More than 300,000 people are reported to be without power and over 1,200 flights have been cancelled.
Debby made landfall on Monday morning as a category one hurricane in the Big Bend region of Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 61 of Florida’s 67 counties before the storm made landfall.
By mid morning on Monday around 134 flights were delayed and 148 cancelled at Miami airport and around 144 delayed and 111 cancelled at Ford Lauderdale-Hollywood airport, according to flight tracker website FlightAware.com.
Boston Logan International airport also told travellers to expect flight delays in and out of the southeastern US as a result of the hurricane in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Virgin Atlantic said its flying programme had been unaffected by the tropical storm.
The US National Hurricane Center said in an update on Monday night: “Potentially historic heavy rainfall across southeast Georgia and the coastal plain of South Carolina through Saturday morning will likely result in areas of catastrophic flooding.
“Heavy rainfall will likely result in considerable flooding impacts for portions of central and northern Florida and across portions of central and northeast North Carolina.
“Dangerous storm surge and tropical storm conditions will spread northward along the southeast US coast from northeastern Florida to North Carolina through the middle of the week.
“Storm surge and tropical storm watches and warnings have been issued for portions of these areas.
“Residents in the storm surge watch and warning area should follow any advice given by local officials.
“In portions of Florida where Debby has passed, deadly hazards remain, including downed power lines and flooded areas.”
Debby brushed past Florida Keys and Key West, causing dive and fishing charter boats to temporarily suspend operations and outages at some electric utilities, which have now been repaired.
But the 125 mile long island chain was largely unaffected. Tourism officials stressed the infrastructure remained largely intact with no significant impact reported as a result of the storm rain and wind.
Some flight arrivals and departures were delayed or cancelled due to the weather but Key West and Florida Keys Marathon International airports stayed open and operational as did tourist attractions, museums and restaurants.
Passengers with imminent flights have been advised to contact their airline to check their flights have not been affected.