Wind and rain bands spawned by Hurricane Debby soaked Lakeland and caused power outages affecting several thousand residents. Debris littered area roadways this morning, but a Lakeland Police Department spokeswoman said no major damage was reported.
Power outages peaked at 3:13 a.m., when 8,600 Lakeland Electric customers were without power, utility spokeswoman Cathryn Lacy said. By 9:34, that number was down to 1,115, and it was down to 593 by 10:56.
“Most of the damage is from tree limbs and debris on power lines. We have crews out restoring power as quickly and safely as possible,” she said. The largest outage ended at 7:30 a.m. when the Galloway substation went back online, Lacy said.
Residents wanting to know when their power will be restored can get an estimate by checking the Lakeland Electric outage map, she said.
Traffic signals: Lakeland Electric crews were repairing a malfunctioning traffic signal at Florida Avenue and Eastway Drive, the police spokeswoman said. Most signals were not affected, but drivers should treat any roadway without lights as a four-way stop.
Landfall: The tropical storm named Debby chugged northward up the Gulf of Mexico and became a Category 1 hurricane before making landfall around 7 a.m. near the Big Bend fishing village of Steinhatchee.
State response: Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm for 61 of Florida’s 67 counties, anticipating heavy rainfall, power outages, flooded roadways, hazardous debris and possible tornadoes. He activated 3,000 members of the state’s National Guard on Sunday to assist emergency responders.
Rain forecast: Lingering rains are expected to dump 4 to 6 inches in the Lakeland area, the National Hurricane Center reported just before 8 a.m. That was down considerably from a prediction of 8 to 16 inches earlier this morning.
A homeowner’s weather station just south of downtown recorded 2.7 inches between midnight and 9:30 a.m.
Tornado and flood warnings: As of 10 a.m., Lakeland was included in a large swath of Florida’s Gulf Coast under a National Weather Service flash flood warning. The tornado watch, which includes Polk County and several nearby counties, was extended until 4 p.m. today.
An area just east of Lakeland that included Auburndale and Polk City was briefly under a tornado warning between 6 and 6:30 a.m. today.
Funnel clouds were seen around Fort Meade, Lake Wales and Bartow on Sunday; the only reports of one touching down briefly were in Bartow.
Wastewater issues: About 250 gallons of wastewater spilled into Lake Bonny between 6 and 7:30 a.m. when heavy rains caused a level sensor to fail and a pump station overflowed, according to a report Lakeland officials filed with the state Department of Environmental Protection. The city said its Lakes and Stormwater Division will collect samples and monitor the lake’s water quality.
Communications Director Kevin Cook said there was also a larger overflow in the Lake Hunter area due to the Western Trunk line being inundated with stormwater. The scope of that spill has not been confirmed yet.
Parks closed: Several city of Lakeland parks will be closed today because of standing water or trail conditions. They include:
- Holloway Park
- Barnett Family Park (including Sunflower Preschool Playground)
- Lake Parker Park
- Horney Park
- Common Ground Playground
- Dog Leg Woods Dog Park
Circle B Bar Reserve will close at dusk today and remain closed until further notice. Officials said two parking lots, a portion of the driveway and some of the trails are under water. Flooding is expected to worsen in the next couple of days.
Bonnet Springs Park closed early Sunday but plans its normal schedule today.
Civic impact: Lakeland’s City Commission held its meeting as planned this morning, although a brief power surge triggered a 5-minute recess around 10:30 when the audio and video system went out and had to be switched to backup power.
Polk County Public Schools teachers, who reported back to work Friday to prepare for classes to start next week, were notified that today’s scheduled training sessions would be delayed until 9 a.m. because of the weather.
Bank of Central Florida delayed opening its offices until noon today because of the storm.
Flights: At Tampa International Airport, nearly half of today’s flights were canceled or delayed as of 9:30 a.m., the Tampa Bay Times reported. At Orlando International Airport, 43 flights had been cancelled as of this morning and departures were delayed an average of 45 minutes, according to The Orlando Sentinel.
Travelers are advised to check with their airline or the National Airspace System Status website for flight information.
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