Maps displaying Hurricane Debby’s trajectory and future projection

Hurricane Debby made landfall Monday morning over Florida’s Big Bend coast, striking land around 7 a.m. ET as a Category 1 storm. Debby was forecast to bring severe and possibly monstrous storm surge — as high as 10 feet above ground level in some areas — to parts of the Gulf Coast of Florida. The storm could bring historic rainfall to surrounding states like Georgia and South Carolina, too, the National Hurricane Center said.

Debby slammed into the Big Bend coast, where the Florida panhandle meets the peninsula, near Steinhatchee, a small oceanside town about 70 miles west of Gainesville. The hurricane center said it was tracking slightly inland in the Big Bend region about an hour after landfall, with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour.

Meteorologists expected that storm surge would be most catastrophic in the immediate vicinity of the landfall location, with the latest forecasts indicating a 130-mile stretch of coastline between Yankeetown and the Aucilla River could see surges between 6 and 10 feet above ground.

The National Hurricane Center published a map early Monday illustrating the storm surge forecast.

Storm surge threats were expected to abate farther into the panhandle and down the length of the Gulf Coast, but only somewhat. Meteorologists warned that surges between 3 and 6 feet could hit areas west of the Aucilla River to Indian Pass, and south of Yankeetown to the Middle of Longboat Key. Debby could usher in as much as 5 feet of storm surge in and around Tampa Bay.

Debby was expected to slow down after making landfall on Monday, eventually shifting directions on a track anticipated to touch an expansive spread along the southeastern U.S. through the Carolinas before dissipating.

The hurricane center said Debby would probably weaken rapidly after the eye of the storm moved inland into northern Florida, shifting back into a tropical storm at some point Monday afternoon as wind speeds begin to dip. But meteorologists also warned that Debby could strengthen again after an initial period of weakening, depending on whether it oscillates between an inland and coastal path during its route over the southeastern states.

Debby was also expected to dump heavy rain totaling 6 to 12 inches, and even as high as 18 inches in some places, across central and northern Florida as well as central and northeast North Carolina throughout the rest of the week until Saturday morning.

A handful of tornadoes could develop over central and northern Florida, as well as southeastern Georgia, on Monday. The tornado threat was expected to travel northeastward with the storm, into parts of South Carolina, later in the day and into Monday night.