President Joe Biden declared an emergency in the state of Florida and ordered federal support to supplement state, tribal and local efforts due to the emergencies resulting from Tropical Storm Debby and continuing in the coming days.

Presidential action authorizes the security serviceFederal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), “to coordinate all disaster relief efforts aimed at alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency to the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for necessary emergency measures,” the declaration said.

Govt. Ron DeSantis has also issued a state of emergency declaration, saying at a Sunday morning briefing in Tallahassee: “We’re absolutely going to see a lot of rainfall. We’re going to see a lot of saturation. We’re going to see flash flooding events. It’s going to happen. There’s also going to be power outages. “

As of 8 a.m. Sunday, Debby was centered about 155 miles southwest of Tampa with sustained winds of 50 mph and gusts up to 60 mph. The National Hurricane Center predicts the storm is expected to continue moving northwest at about 13 mph and could make landfall in Florida’s Big Bend area Tuesday morning. The system is expected to strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane Sunday afternoon while still in the Gulf of Mexico.

Biden’s declaration of emergency allows, according to Title V of the Stafford Act, “to save life and protect property and public health and safety, and to reduce or avert the threat of a disaster.”

Public assistance protection measures, limited to direct federal assistance and reimbursement for mass care including evacuation and shelter support will be provided with 75 percent federal funding for Alachua, Baker, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Franklin, Gilchrist counties , Gulf, Hamilton, Hendry, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Putnam, Sarasota, Sumter , Suwannee, Taylor , Union and Wakulla.

Public assistance protection measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided with 75 percent federal funding for the counties of Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, DeSoto, Escambia, Flagler, Gadsden, Glades, Hardee, Highlands, Holmes, Jackson, Okaloosa, Okeechobee , Orange, Polk, Santa Rosa, Seminole, St. Johns, Volusia, Walton and Washington.

John E. Brogan of FEMA has been designated to coordinate federal recovery operations in the affected areas.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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