Hurricane Debby in Ocala – Aftermath of the storm

Marion County residents woke up Monday to rain, wind gusts and flood and tornado warnings as Category 1 Hurricane Debby headed on a track across northern Florida. Several thousand homes in the county did not have electricity.

The National Weather Service reported “heavy rain, fog and mist” and winds at 16 mph with gusts to 21 mph at 8:51 a.m. at the Ocala International Airport.

The NWS also posted warnings for the Ocala area for a tropical storm until further notice, a tornado watch until 4 p.m. today and a flood watch until 8 p.m. Tuesday.

The Florida Highway Patrol posted debris on roadways warnings Monday morning for locations including 457 S.E. 110th Street, Ocala; U.S. 41 North in Morristown; Highway 40 at Northeast 125 Terrace Road; and Interstate 75 at the 347-mile marker (south of State Road 200) with some northbound lane blockage due to a downed tree. Updates and more information are available at flhsmv.gov/fhp/traffic/live_traffic_feed.html

As of 3:16 p.m. Monday, the Ocala Electric Utility online outage data indicated 75 outages involving 2,002 customers and the SECO Energy online outage map summary stated 481 Marion County members were affected by outages at 3:21 p.m. Clay Electric Cooperative online outage information at 3:23 p.m. showed 2,751 Marion County customers were impacted by outages. At 3:25 p.m. Monday, Duke Energy online outage map data showed 11, 672 customers affected by 301 outages.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office reports that the Citizen Information Line at (352) 369-7500 is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for questions and help related to the impact of the storm in the county. The MCSO reminds citizens to call 911 “as always” for emergencies.

An MCSO spokesperson said Monday morning that crews were being dispatched to handle downed trees throughout the county.