Tracking Tropical Storm Debby’s impact on Southwest Florida

Published: Updated:
CREDIT: Sanibel Fire Rescue District

Tropical Storm Debby is set to make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on Monday morning in the northern part of Florida, but that does not mean Southwest Floridians are not enduring any severe weather conditions.

In Fort Myers Beach, wet and windy conditions Sunday evening knocked over a small structure and pushed sand up onto the roads.

During the course of the rain the beach could not be seen.

There was sand in the middle of Fort Myers Beach Times Square due to the rain pushing the sand toward the area.

Earlier in the morning, WINK News reporter Camila Pereira commented on the choppiness of the ocean water, with waves sighted from the coastline and shared the photos below.

Pereira also reported slight ponding on shore.

Collier County experienced some of the first impacts from the storm. In Naples, scattered rain has been reported along with slight coastal ripples.

As weather conditions worsen, roadway flooding in Naples has been reported.

WINK News reporter Annalise Iraola took photos of flooding on Gulfshore Boulevard.

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office posted on its Facebook account about road flooding on Gulf Shore Drive between Vanderbilt Beach Road and Bluebill Avenue.

Motorists are advised to find alternative routes to avoid stalling in flood water.

In downtown Punta Gorda, all streets east and west of U.S. 41 were closed by authorities due to flooding at around 2:30 in the afternoon.

Another concern for Southwest Floridians is keeping the electricity going during and after a storm hits our area.

WINK News spoke with a Lee County Electric Cooperative representative regarding preparations in lieu of storm impacts.

“I think one of the things that we focus on is the communication aspect of it,” said LCEC representative Karen Ryan. “We have an outage map on LCEC.net so customers can see where the outages are occurring and they will be confident that we are aware of it and that crews are out there working and on the way. They can also watch as power gets restored, so communication was a very big part of it.”

WINK News will continue its coverage of Tropical Storm Debby and any further impacts it may have on our area.

If you have any pictures of the storm’s impact, send them to us through the WINK News tips page.

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