President Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida as Tropical Storm Debby barrels toward the Sunshine State, the White House confirmed Sunday. 

The president’s move helps free up federal resources and authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts, the White House said. 

Debby was expected to become a hurricane as it moved through the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida, bringing with it the threat of devastating floods later in the week.

The storm was likely to become a Category 1 hurricane before making landfall Monday in the Big Bend region of Florida, per the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

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The flooding impacts, which could last through Friday, are expected to be especially severe in low-lying areas near the coast, including Savannah, Georgia, Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina.

The hurricane center said in an update posted at 11 a.m. Sunday that Debby was located about 130 miles west-southwest of Tampa, Florida, and about 160 miles south-southwest of Cedar Key, Florida. The storm was moving north-northwest at 13 mph with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, up from 50 mph just a few hours ago.

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“I’d urge all Floridians to be cognizant of the fact that we are going to have a hurricane hit the state, probably a Category 1, but it could be a little bit more powerful than that,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a Sunday morning briefing.

“But we are absolutely going to see a lot of rainfall. We are going to see a lot of saturation. We are going to see flooding events,” he said. “There is also going to be power outages.”

This satellite image provided by NOAA shows Tropical Storm Debby as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida on Aug. 4, 2024. (NOAA via AP)

DeSantis said that, for the first time, constructed flood control devices are being placed at utility stations to try to minimize the risk of power interruptions because of flooding.

The National Hurricane Center predicted the system will strengthen as it curves off the southwest Florida coast, where the water has been extremely warm.

DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 61 of Florida’s 67 counties, with the National Guard activating 3,000 members.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The teenage brother of a U.S. Air Force airman who was shot and killed in his home by a Florida sheriff’s deputy in May has been killed in a shooting in the Atlanta area, police said.

Andre Fortson, Senior Airman Roger Fortson’s 16-year-old brother, was killed this week in DeKalb County, near Atlanta’s east side, DeKalb County police said in an update on the slaying.

“The Fortson family is battling the loss of yet another young member of their family,” said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has been representing the family since Roger Fortson was killed.

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“This has been an incredibly challenging time for them with the loss of Roger,” Crump said in a statement. “Losing the life of yet another young family member — a mere child — has been an absolute devastation.”

Andre Fortson was found shot to death in the breezeway of an apartment complex on Tuesday, police said. Two groups of people had been shooting at each other for unknown reasons, DeKalb County police said.

A 20-year-old man was identified as one of the shooters, and arrested on an aggravated assault charge, police said. He was booked into the DeKalb County Jail. Jail records did not list an attorney who could be reached for comment on his behalf.

The killing comes about three months after Roger Fortson, 23, was killed May 3 by Okaloosa County sheriff’s Deputy Eddie Duran at Fortson’s apartment in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The airman had answered the door while holding a handgun pointed toward the floor and was killed within seconds, body camera video shows.

Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden fired Duran, saying the deputy’s life was never in danger and that he should not have fired his weapon.

A sheriff’s office internal affairs investigation found that Fortson “did not make any hostile, attacking movements, and therefore, the former deputy’s use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable.”

The Fortson family is from DeKalb County, where Andre Fortson was killed. At a tearful news conference a couple of weeks after the Florida killing, Andre Fortson stood on the stage with his mother and sisters. They wore red shirts with the words “WE ALL WE GOT” on the front and a picture of Roger Fortson in his military uniform on the back.

Roger Fortson was stationed at the Air Force’s Hurlburt Field in the Florida Panhandle. At his funeral outside Atlanta, hundreds of Air Force members in dress blues filed past his coffin, draped with an American flag.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn took home Tennessee’s Republican Senate primary on Thursday, likely securing the senate seat in the process in the heavily-Republican state. Blackburn led Thursday’s primary with almost 93% of the vote over Tres Wittum, at the time the race was called by the Associated Press.

Blackburn, the incumbent senator, was largely seen as the favorite in the race heading in, having won her first race for Senate in 2018 over former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen by 11 points.

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Blackburn’s lone challenger was Wittum, a former Tennessee legislative staffer who finished last in a primary bid for the state’s 5th Congressional District in 2022. 

Blackburn will now move on to face off with Democratic state Sen. Gloria Johnson.

Johnson rose to fame last year after being one of three members of the Tennessee legislature to stage a protest on the state House floor in the aftermath of a shooting at an elementary school. She was dubbed as a member of the “Tennessee Three,” being joined in the protest by fellow Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, both Democrats. 

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The protests, which violated House rules, resulted in the expulsion of both Pearson and Jones, who were later reappointed and easily won special elections to regain their seats.

Democratic state Rep. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville speaks after a vote to expel Justin Jones of Nashville from the governing body on April 6, 2023 in Nashville, Tenn. 

Blackburn will now likely be the favorite in November’s general election, with Tennessee having leaned heavily Republican in statewide elections in recent years.

Blackburn’s Tennessee colleague, Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty, was reelected in 2020 by about 30 points, while Republican Gov. Bill Lee was able to secure reelection in 2022 by over 30 points.

Former President Donald Trump also easily won the state in 2016 and 2020, taking Tennessee by 26 and 23 points, respectively.