Florida
Florida prepares for the arrival of a strengthening Tropical Storm Debby
A graphic shows the projected path of Tropical Storm Debby as it crosses Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
National Weather Service
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National Weather Service
Forecasters expect Tropical Storm Debby, a major weather system churning in the Gulf of Mexico, to reach hurricane-strength over the weekend before making landfall in Florida Monday morning.
State officials and meteorologists are urging residents along Florida’s Big Bend coast and beyond to prepare for high winds, potentially severe flooding and unusually heavy rains.
“It’s going to be far beyond the center of the storm. So just prepare for that,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said of the rainfall forecast during a Sunday morning press conference. “Just because you’re not in the eye of the storm, it does not mean you are not going to have major, major impacts from the storm.”
The National Hurricane Center says Debby could unleash catastrophic conditions in Florida as well as in parts of Georgia and South Carolina later in the week, dropping potentially record-breaking rainfall amounts in those two states.
“There are some really amazing rainfall totals being forecast — and amazing in a very bad way,” National Hurricane Center director Michael Brennan said during a Sunday briefing.
Florida could see six to 12 inches of rain, with isolated amounts as high as 18 inches, and coastal areas in Georgia and South Carolina could be hit even harder. Brennan said communities near Savannah and Charleston could see between 10 and 20 inches of widespread rainfall, with isolated totals as high as 30 inches in some areas.
“That would be record-breaking rainfall associated with a tropical cyclone for both the states of Georgia and South Carolina if we got up to the 30-inch level,” he noted.
Warmer ocean temperatures and higher sea levels driven by climate change are making hurricanes and tropical storms more intense, causing heavier rainfall and more extreme flooding.
Flash flooding and storm surge risks
As of Sunday morning, Debby was located about 130 miles west-southwest of Tampa with maximum sustained winds of around 65 miles per hour.
Storm surge warnings and watches as well as hurricane warnings and watches were in effect for parts of Florida’s Gulf Coast, particularly in the Tallahassee area and around the Big Bend. Forecasters said the storm surge could rise as high as six to 10 feet above ground level in communities between the Suwannee and Ochlockonee rivers. Some local mandatory and voluntary evacuations were in place.
Flash flooding was also in the forecast for parts of northern Florida, where DeSantis said the ground was already full of water in some places. “We already have saturation in those areas, so you are going to be at risk of flooding,” he said.
DeSantis issued an emergency declaration on Thursday ahead of the storm and readied search-and-rescue operations and other state resources to deal with the potential fallout from the severe weather. He told residents to expect power outages.
On Saturday, President Joe Biden approved Florida’s request for a federal emergency declaration ahead of Debby’s arrival, which authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to help coordinate disaster relief efforts.
After Debby makes landfall on Monday, forecasters expect the storm to slow to a crawl as it moves across Florida, Georgia and South Carolina over several days this week.
Brennan said the exact track the storm would take over land was still unclear, but forecasters were “very confident we’re going to have a slow-moving system that’s going to result in multiple days of very, very heavy rainfall.”
A storm surge watch was in effect on Sunday for parts of the Georgia and South Carolina coastlines from the St. Mary’s River in Georgia to the South Santee River in South Carolina.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency for the entire state, warning residents of the possibility of significant flooding.
Roughly the same area of Florida faced another major storm around this time last year, when Hurricane Idalia made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on the state’s Gulf Coast in the waning days of August.
Idalia brought strong winds and heavy rains that caused widespread flooding across the region.
Plans for a new Wawa to open in Port St. Lucie were approved.
A new Wawa fuel station and convenience store will open in Port St. Lucie now that the plans have been approved.
The Wawa will be at the corner of Village Parkway and Becker Road in front of the Lowe’s which is expected to open in the summer of 2026, according to the city’s website.
The plans for a Wawa convenience store and eight fuel pumps were submitted to the city Dec. 3, 2025.
What will go in Port St. Lucie’s Southern Grove?
The plans for the Shoppes at Southern Grove show there will be a new Lowe’s store and six additional outparcels.
The six additional outparcels include the following:
- Gas station: 5,915 square feet
- Outparcel A: 1.2 acres
- Outparcel B: 1.14 acres
- Outparcel C: 1.83 acres
- Outparcel D: 1.04 acres
- Outparcel E: 1.02 acres
Olivia Franklin is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at olivia.franklin@tcpalm.com, 317-627-8048 or follow her on X @Livvvvv_5.
SUNRISE, Fla. – Five Florida Panthers players and five staff members will represent their home countries at the upcoming 2026 IIHF World Championship, taking place May 15 through May 31 in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland. Games will be broadcast on NHL Network in the United States.
Marek Alscher, 22, will represent Czechia at the IIHF World Championship for the first time. He previously played for his home country at the 2024 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship, skating in seven games to help the Czechs capture the bronze medal over Finland. Alscher made his NHL debut with the Panthers in 2025-26, notching three assists over four games played. He also skated in 52 American Hockey League (AHL) games with Florida’s affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, recording 11 points (3-8-11).
Aleksander Barkov, 30, missed the 2026 Winter Olympic Games due to injury but had been named to Finland’s preliminary roster in June of 2025. He previously earned a bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games alongside current Panthers assistant coach Tuomo Ruutu, and earned a silver medal representing his home country at the 2016 IIHF Men’s World Championship. At the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, Barkov served as captain of Finland.
Anton Lundell, 24, will be participating in his second IIHF World Championship after earning a silver medal with Finland in 2021, where he posted seven points (4-3-7) in 10 games as a 19-year-old. He helped Finland capture the bronze medal at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games this season and previously earned gold at the 2019 IIHF U20 WJC and 2018 IIHF U18 WJC, as well as a bronze medal at the 2021 U20 WJC.
Sandis Vilmanis, 22, will represent Latvia at the IIHF World Championship for the first time in his career. He played for Latvia at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in February as well as at the 2022, 2023 and 2024 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships, serving as an alternate captain in 2024 where he produced four points (2-2-4) over five games. Vilmanis made his NHL debut with the Panthers in 2025-26, logging five points (3-2-5) in 19 games with Florida while compiling 38 points (17-21-38) in 48 American Hockey League (AHL) contests with the Panthers affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.
Matthew Tkachuk, 28, will attempt to become the first American to join the Triple Gold Club (Stanley Cup, World Championship Gold Medal and Olympic Gold Medal), as well as the first player in NHL history to win all three parts of the Triple Gold Club within a 12-month span. This will be Tkachuk’s first time participating in the IIHF World Championship.
In addition to his 2026 Olympic gold medal, Tkachuk also earned gold representing the United States at the 2015 IIHF U18 World Junior Championship and the 2014 U17 World Hockey Challenge, as well as a bronze medal at the 2016 IIHF U20 WJC. He served as alternate captain for the U.S. at the 2026 Olympics and 2025 4 Nations Face-Off.
Florida will have four staff members representing the United States. Panthers Assistant General Manager Brett Peterson is serving as General Manager for the second time after holding the position in 2024. Panthers Head Equipment Manager Teddy Richards will serve as equipment manager and Florida’s Head Athletic Trainer Dave DiNapoli will work as athletic trainer. Panthers President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Bill Zito will serve on the Advisory Group.
Panthers Assistant General Manager Gregory Campbell will assist with evaluating and selecting players for Canada.
Panthers fans can stay up to date on all the Cats’ representatives at the 2026 IIHF World Championships at FloridaPanthers.com/WorldChampionship.
2026-27 Florida Panthers Territory Memberships are available now! Click here to learn more. For all the latest in Panthers news, concerts and events at Amerant Bank Arena & FTL War Memorial, sign up for ’93 Society newsletter and receive information straight to your inbox. Visit FloridaPanthers.com or SeatGeek.com for all ticketing needs.
A Martin County slaughterhouse near Lake Okeechobee could increase toxic algal blooms in the C-44 Canal, St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon.
There have been 81 algal blooms in the past two years within 2 miles of a proposed slaughterhouse in western Martin County, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Algal Bloom Dashboard.
The slaughterhouse will increase pollution and bring more potentially toxic algal blooms to Lake Okeechobee, whose waters sometimes are released into the C-44 Canal and flow into the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon in Stuart, opponents say.
Chancey Bay Ranch owner Tuny Mizrachi has proposed building a 56,784-square-foot slaughterhouse on 26 acres of his 2,046-acre-property at 8401 SW Connors Highway, abutting Lake O.
5 ways a slaughterhouse can increase Lake Okeechobee pollution
The Guardians of Martin County have raised at least five concerns with the Martin County Commission:
- Meat processing facilities, though necessary, have the potential to be noisy nuisances and significant sources of disease and pollution for air and water.
- The facility would be a new source of pollution in a watershed that’s designated as “impaired” because of elevated concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus.
- The facility would be a potential new source of pollutants near one of Martin County’s lowest income and most ethnically diverse communities.
- There’s no evidence the facility has a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, or plans to follow effluent limitation guidelines or conduct water-quality monitoring.
- The South Florida Water Management District has permitted the facility to withdraw 6.7 million gallons of water per year for 20 years from Florida’s surficial aquifer, despite it being subject to varying levels of saltwater intrusion, especially in Martin County. The SFWMD has designated all of Martin County a Water Resource Caution Area.
Blood, feces, oil, grease, ammonia and antibiotic residue from the proposed slaughterhouse would contribute to harmful algal blooms, including toxic cyanobacteria, Martin County Administrator Don Donaldson wrote to the DEP and SFWMD.
Tim O’Hara is TCPalm’s environment reporter. Contact him at tim.ohara@tcpalm.com.
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