Hurricane Debby makes landfall in Florida

PERRY, Fla. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Hurricane Debby has made landfall in Florida. According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), the storm was a Category 1 hurricane, with 80 mile-per-hour winds, as it made landfall at 7:00am Eastern on Monday.

Forecasters have warned of life-threatening storm surges in Florida and major flooding across southeastern states.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 61 counties expected to be affected by the storm, and in a press conference Monday morning he warned that flooding from the storm could continue later into the week.

"We have seen significant storm surge. We have seen inundation. We have seen and will continue to see flooding in very parts of the state of Florida. This storm is expected to move throughout North Central Florida and likely go into Georgia and in the Carolinas.

This storm has produced and will likely produce significant flooding events from Sarasota, Bradenton area, all the way up to northern Florida. And that's not something that just happens when the storm passes. There's a threat ongoing threat of that. Over the ensuing days."

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL)

Forcasters are predicting up to 18 inches of rain for parts of central and northern Florida and southeastern North Carolina, and parts of southeast Georgia and South Carolina could get 10 to 20 inches of rain, with up to 30 inches in some areas.