Hurricane Debby made landfall early Monday morning along Florida’s Big Bend, blasting the state with flooding rain, damaging winds and life-threatening storm surge. The Category 1 storm hit near Steinhatchee about 7 a.m. ET with winds topping 80 mph.
GULFPORT, Fla. – A Florida boater was killed in his attempt to ride out Hurricane Debby. Remarkably, his little dog survived despite the sailboat being found partially sunk.
The body of 48-year-old Brian J. Clough was identified Tuesday by Gulfport police after his remains were located in his submerged boat in Boca Ciega Bay. At least five other deaths have been attributed to Debby as the now-tropical storm continues to send a deluge along the Eastern Seaboard.
Clough’s body was taken to the Pinellas County Medical Examiner’s Office for further examination, police told FOX Weather on Wednesday. A preliminary investigation does not indicate any foul play was involved in his death.
TROPICAL STORM DEBBY STRENGTHENS AS DANGEROUS FLOOD THREAT CONTINUES FOR PORTIONS OF CAROLINAS
The body of 48-year-old Brian J. Clough was identified Tuesday by Gulfport police after his remains were located in his boat in Boca Ciega Bay.
(Gulfport Police Department)
Debby made landfall along Florida’s Big Bend as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday morning. The storm dumped more than 20 inches of rain in some areas of Florida. Winds also caused power outages, leaving more than 300,000 customers without electricity at the height of the storm.
Police said Clough anchored his sailboat about 50 feet from Gulfport’s Veterans Park and was anchored there through Debby.
Ryan Newkirk and other boaters in the community first noticed a portion of Clough’s vessel submerged about 50 feet from the shoreline, he told FOX 13 in Tampa. He immediately dove into the vessel but was unable to locate his friend after only being able to search a portion of the sunken vessel.
“We got his dog off the boat,” said Newkirk about his main concern regarding his friend’s initial disappearance. “He wouldn’t leave his dog.”
Intense storms were building in Horseshoe Beach, Florida, on Monday morning as Hurricane Debby neared landfall.
As Debby blew through the Gulfport boating community, it damaged and destroyed several boats near Williams Pier, FOX 13 reports.
“It was one of the worst storms I’ve seen in 15 years of being on the water,” said Newkirk, who is also a delivery captain.
Newkirk said he has ridden out Hurricanes Irma and Ian in the past, but Debby was “extra.”
“Those were very strong storms and nothing like this,” he said. “This (was) catastrophic for boaters.”
Several sailboats in the area went unmoored during the storm and washed ashore, FOX 13 reports. The area remained flooded for most of Monday.