Flooding from Debby could last 5-10 days, Florida officials say

As Hurricane Debby made landfall in Florida's Taylor County, Gov. Ron DeSantis said 143,000 residents were without power at a Monday morning press conference. 

DeSantis, who appeared at 7:30 a.m. at the state's emergency operations center, gave the latest update on the Category 1 hurricane, which came onto land at Steinhatchee, a fishing village on the state's Nature Coast.

More: Hurricane Debby makes Florida landfall. Where is Steinhatchee?

The governor and Kevin Guthrie, head of the state's Division of Emergency Management, said flooding will be an ongoing issue, perhaps for up to 10 days after Debby makes its way through north Florida.

"This storm is massive," Guthrie said. 

The maximum speed of sustained winds have hit 80 mph, he added, and there have been more than 35 tornado warnings across the state.

Sarasota and Manatee County have already received 10 to 12 inches of rain, and parts of north and central Florida are expected to receive 15 to 20 inches of rain, Guthrie said. Also, rivers and streams are rising fast.

At 10 p.m. last night, the Steinhatchee River was at 4.06 feet near Cross City, according to U.S. Geological Survey data .

At 7:45 a.m. Monday, around 45 minutes after Hurricane Debby made landfall, the river's height more than doubled to 8.87 feet. It rose almost 2 feet from 6 a.m. to 7:45 a.m., according to the latest data uploaded to the USGS website.

On average, the height of the river is usually around 4 feet on this day in August.

Guthrie said the flooding could last 5-10 days: "We are not running anywhere. We are staying put, and we're going to make sure that we're here to respond."

Ana Goñi-Lessan , state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at  agonilessan@gannett.com . 

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Flooding from Debby could last 5-10 days, Florida officials say