Storm Debby strengthens as Southeast braces for "historic" rainfall

Authorities in the Florida Gulf area on Sunday ordered partial evacuations of the region ahead of the advance of Tropical Storm Debby, which could escalate to a hurricane and bring "potentially historic" rainfall to the southeastern part of the country.

Debby, now rapidly strengthening in an unusually warm Gulf of Mexico, is expected to hit the Big Bend region of Florida at hurricane strength sometime Sunday night.

It would then slowly weaken but continue to generate very significant rainfall volumes in Florida, southeastern Georgia and South Carolina over the next five days, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned Sunday.

Mike Brennan, a spokesman for the NHC, said Sunday that the entire west coast of Florida is under a tropical storm warning and urged locals, particularly on the northwest coast and peninsula of Florida, to "find a safe place to take shelter before nightfall."

Mandatory evacuations were ordered Saturday night for part of Citrus County, Florida, while in eight other counties evacuation was voluntary, local media reported.