While Debby brought winds on the lower end of tropical storm force to our area, the biggest impact was rain. 

What You Need To Know

  • Rainfall topped a foot in many spots

  • Storm surge was 2 to 4 feet on our coast

  • Record flooding occurred on the Manatee River

Debby became a tropical storm on Saturday, August 3rd, as it was moving to the north away from Cuba in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico.

It gradually strengthened as it moved north and its center passed approximately 75 miles to the west of the mouth of Tampa Bay on the evening of August 4th.

After passing by our area, it strengthened to a minimal category 1 hurricane late at night and made landfall near Steinhatchee with winds of 80 mph on the morning of August 5th. 

Close to home, winds did briefly gust to over 60 mph at some coastal locations during the height of the storm late in the day on the 4th, but even there winds were rarely sustained at tropical storm force (39 mph or higher).

Rainfall

Debby was a rather disorganized storm, which led to a lopsided look of it. Nearly all the rain from Debby was spread well to the east of the center.

Torrential rain led to widespread inland flooding, particularly in Manatee and Sarasota counties. Myakka City saw the highest rainfall total of over 21 inches.

Places like Lakewood Ranch, Parrish, and Pinellas Park saw well over a foot of rain. 

With the exception of central and eastern Polk County, a general 6 to 12 inches of rain fell across the Tampa Bay Region. 

This led to historic flooding of the Manatee River, with a record crest of 20.1 feet at Rye Bridge, producing major flooding.

The Alafia River and Little Manatee River in Hillsborough County also saw major flooding.

Storm Surge

Since Debby developed so close to landfall and winds barely reached hurricane force, storm surge was not as significant as past storms in our area, but it still produced coastal flooding.

During the high tide on the morning of Monday, Aug. 5, surge peaked at 2 to 4 feet above the mean high tide.

Surge was on the lower end of this range for the immediate Tampa Bay Region and closer to the higher end around Citrus County.

Surge with Debby was much lower than Idalia, and a little bit lower than the non-tropical (nameless) storm of December 2023.

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