Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt

through the Schmidt Family Foundation working toward a healthy,

resilient, secure world for all. On the web at the Schmidt.org.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst. A tornado watches in effect for much of Florida today as Tropical Storm Debbie churns in the Gulf.

The storm is expected to become a hurricane before it makes landfall early tomorrow morning.

Heavy rain and strong winds are expected and officials say building damage and power outages are possible along with flooding.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

We are looking at potentially really, really significant flooding that will happen particularly

in north central Florida as this storm makes landfall.

And he says 3,000 members of the National Guard are on standby.

People are being warned not to go into flood waters because of dangerous debris or possibly downed power lines.

Meanwhile, coastal roads near Tampa are already flooding as the storm nears.

Kerry Sheridan from Member Station W. USF in Sarasota says drivers are getting stranded.

A.J. Grunvig posted a video online showing cars trapped in floodwaters.

Oh, that whole front end of that cars ripped off.

He says some parts of a coastal road looked to be three feet underwater.

Can't believe the amount of cars that were actually trying to go through that flooded water over there.

Florida emergency management chief Kevin Guthrie warned people to stay home.

It's never safe to walk or drive through flooded roadways.

Guthrie says some areas may see up to six feet of storm surge.

For NPR News, I'm Carrie Sheridan in Sarasota.

And states of emergency have been declared in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, the storm is expected

...