Four dead in Florida as storm moves toward Georgia and South Carolina

Hurricane Debby blames 4 deaths in Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis will travel to areas affected by Hurricane Debby on Tuesday as flood risks increase due to the storm’s rainfall in northern Florida and Georgia. Debby made landfall around 7 a.m. Monday as a Category 1 storm in Steinhatchee in Taylor County. As forecast, it produced significant amounts of rain and storm surge without generating catastrophic winds. The system lost speed once it made landfall and moved slowly along the Georgia border at 7 mph in a north-northeasterly direction.

At least four deaths in Florida have been attributed to Hurricane Debby, now downgraded to a tropical storm, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced during a news conference Monday afternoon.

Hurricane Debby made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region near Steinhatchee around 7 a.m. as a Category 1 hurricane, according to officials. It was not that far from where Hurricane Idalia made landfall in August 2023.

Here’s what we know about the reported deaths.

DIXIE COUNTY

Two people, a woman and a child, were killed in Dixie County on Saturday night and deteriorating weather is believed to have been a factor in the crash, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

FHP said in its crash report that the driver of an SUV apparently lost control of the vehicle near U.S. 19 and 483rd Avenue and struck a guardrail in the center median before overturning.

A 38-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy were killed in the crash. A 14-year-old boy was also injured. All three were from Crawfordville, a small town south of Tallahassee.

Hurricane Debby had not yet made landfall at the time of the accident, but the storm’s outer bands were beginning to affect large areas of the state.

LEVY COUNTY

A 13-year-old boy died early Monday after a tree fell on a mobile home in Levy County and crushed him, according to the Levy County Sheriff’s Office.

Levy County deputies responded to the home in Fanning Springs around 8 a.m.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with this family as they deal with this tragedy. We encourage everyone to use extreme caution as they begin to assess and clean up the damage,” the Levy County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook.

“Downed power lines and falling trees are just some of the many dangers. One life is too many. Please be careful.”

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY

The driver of a semi-trailer truck died early Monday after the truck jumped over a guardrail on Interstate 75 near Tampa and entered the Tampa Bypass Canal, according to the Hillsborough County Fire Department and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

The initial 911 call came in around 2:30 a.m. It happened near southbound I-75 and mile marker 263.

Stay with FOX 35 News for additional updates.