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At least 38 roads were closed in Columbia County on Tuesday morning due to flooding caused by Tropical Storm Debby.

The area was bombarded with up to 10 inches of rain over 24 hours on Monday, triggering a Flash Flood Warning.

News4JAX spoke to Christopher Sampson who owns a rental property on Null Road in Lake City. On Tuesday, he and a friend were using kayaks to bring food to one of their friends on the road because there were feet of standing water in their way.

“He’s doing pretty good,” Sampson said of his stranded friend. “We’re taking up some food. He’s got his truck up by the road. He’s got a canoe to get out in an emergency, but, he’s down there. A lot of the people parked here actually live down there. So, they’re at their home, you know, trying to protect what they can at their home site.”

At a gas station near White Springs, Cathy Pearson and her husband were filling up on fuel for generators. They have been without power since Monday.

“The roads are very wet, very washed. So if you’re doing evacuate, you really have to be careful for something,” Pearson said.

The Columbia County Library Main Branch is closed on Wednesday due to storm damage.

Westside Elementary School Special Needs Shelter is also closing. Special Needs Shelter will now be available at Winfield Community Center. Call the CIC with your nonemergency questions at (386)719-7530.

And the water in the area is still rising. Officials said area rivers are set to crest in the coming days.

The county said bypassing barricades placed on closed roads poses significant safety risks and should not be attempted.

Below is a list of road closures as of 8 a.m. due to flooding caused by Debby. It’s unclear which of these roads have since reopened:

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Flooding is slow-moving hurricane's main impact.

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As Hurricane Debby moved out of North Florida on Monday afternoon, it left behind floodwaters.

Heather Futch, Columbia County public information officer, said flooding was an issue in both the northern and southern portions of the county Monday afternoon. The storm, which made landfall around 7 a.m. Monday near Steinhatchee, slowly moved through North Florida as it headed toward the Atlantic coast of Georgia.

“We did OK,” Futch said. “There is some flooding. We're under that emergency flood warning.”

The slow-moving storm, which was a Category 1 hurricane when it made landfall, included approximately 10 inches of rain at the Columbia County Emergency Operations Center, Futch said.

“It was probably pretty similar all the way across,” she said.

Roadways were also underwater in various parts of the county. County Road 240 was completely covered east of Branford Highway (State Road 247), which also was flooded north of that intersection.

Water also crossed State Road 47 on the south side of Lake City.

“The hazards from this system are far-reaching will be long-lasting,” Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said Monday afternoon during a briefing at the state Emergency Operations Center according to the News Service of Florida. “Depending on the type of basin and the type of river that we're dealing with … this is going to be about a week-long event that we're going to be monitoring.”

Debby had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph at landfall and was downgraded to a tropical storm by 11 a.m. as it moved slowly across North Florida.

Futch said the average wind speed in Columbia County was 12 to 19 mph Monday during the storm with gusts up to 30-35 mph.

“It wasn't nearly as bad as we were thinking,” she said. “Hopefully it will be out of here by this evening.”

With roads submerged, Futch said some services will still not be back and running Tuesday, including trash pickup.

“They are working on roads pretty heavily and restoring lights as quick as possible,” Futch said.

Interstate 10 was closed in Columbia County earlier due to flooding on I-10 between mile marker 295 and mile marker 301 blocking all lanes in both directions.

The Florida Department of Transportation pumped thousands of gallons off the roadway, getting it reopened within an hour Monday evening.

The Columbia County School District also is not opening back up Tuesday in full. The district announced Monday afternoon that 12-month employees are to report at noon Tuesday if they are able. All district employees are expected to be back Wednesday.

“We urge everyone to continue to take every precaution with the effects of this storm as we continue to monitor and update as needed,” Superintendent Lex Carswell said in a release. “Thanks for your understanding and flexibility.”

Roadways were also under water in Suwannee County, particularly in the downtown area of the City of Live Oak, including along Howard Street (U.S. Highway 90) west of Ohio Avenue (U.S. 129) and along Ohio Avenue north of Howard Street.

“There's still risks,” Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is going to travel to damaged areas Tuesday, said, according to the News Service. “There's a risk from a lot of water. But from a wind perspective, this was not at the level of the previous storms that we've seen in the state. So, all in all, especially given that these folks had already been hit 11 months ago, we're glad that we're getting reports that we're not seeing a lot of widespread wind damage.”

TALLAHASSEE — A Category 1 hurricane is forecast to make landfall Monday morning in North Florida’s Big Bend region, which the powerful Hurricane Idalia hammered nearly a year ago, according to the private meteorology company AccuWeather.

As the system, Tropical Storm Debby, started to move into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Saturday afternoon, AccuWeather meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said conditions will lead to strengthening of the storm. Conditions include above-average water temperatures in the gulf.

“The combination of these factors opens up the possibility of rapid intensification between Saturday night and early Monday morning, including the final hours right up to the point of landfall,” Buckingham said in a statement.

Tropical Storm Debby was forecast Saturday evening to make landfall Monday afternoon in the Big Bend area.

As a precaution ahead of the storm, Columbia County officials announced Saturday that it was closing the Columbia County Public Library branches and the County Extension Office on Monday and Tuesday, resuming normal operations Wednesday.

The Tax Collector, Property Appraiser, Board of County Commissioners, Environmental Health and Planning & Zoning offices also have been closed Monday but are planning to resume normal operations Tuesday.

Florida Gateway College also announced Saturday that its campuses will be closed Monday.

As of Saturday afternoon, AccuWeather had the system making landfall with maximum sustained winds between 74 mph and 95 mph, a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. But Buckingham said the storm potentially could intensify to reach the Category 2 level before landfall.

Idalia grew briefly into a Category 4 storm before making landfall in Taylor County as a Category 3 hurricane on Aug. 30, 2023. The National Hurricane Center, in advisories on Saturday, also raised the prospect of a hurricane hitting Florida.

“After the system crosses Cuba and emerges over the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the environmental and oceanic conditions appear favorable for intensification,” the center said in an advisory. “Due to the lack of internal organization, the initial intensification is likely to be slow. However, a faster​ rate of development is likely once the system gets better organized, and the cyclone is likely to be near or at hurricane strength when it reaches the northern gulf coast.”

Columbia County has sandbag locations available at Columbia County Public Works, 607 NW Quinten Street in Lake City; the Fort White Community Center, 17579 SW State Road 47 in Fort White; and Southside Sports Complex, 1963 SW Bascom Norris Drive in Lake City. There is a 15 bag per vehicle limit.

The City of Lake City also has sandbags available at its Public Works site, 180 NE Gum Swamp Road.

Sandbags are also available in Suwannee County at the Branford Fire Department, the Suwannee County Judicial Annex and the Live Oak Fire Department.

As of 2 p.m. Saturday, a hurricane watch had been issued from Indian Pass in Gulf County to Yankeetown in Levy County, according to the hurricane center A tropical storm warning had been issued from Yankeetown south to East Cape Sable in Monroe County and in the Florida Keys west of the Seven Mile Bridge.

Also, storm-surge watches and warnings had been issued for much of the state’s Gulf Coast.

“As you prepare your home remember that if you can pick it up, put it up!” the Florida Division of Emergency Management said in an online post. “Anything left outside could become dangerous projectiles in strong winds. Listen to all orders by local officials.”

The AccuWeather forecast included up to 8 inches of rain across the Florida peninsula and up to 12 inches in Northeast Florida. The hurricane center posted a potential “cone” showing the storm making landfall in the Big Bend and then moving east across North Florida and South Georgia.

AccuWeather also posted an advisory warning of tornadoes and waterspouts throughout the peninsula, rough surf and dangerous rip currents on both coasts, and rainfall totals of 12 inches to 18 inches in areas of the southeast U.S. over the next week.