US braces for 'catastrophic' flooding as Storm Debby drenches Florida

Miami: At least one person was killed as Tropical Storm Debby began dumping what could become historic levels of rain over Florida Monday, with the so...

Miami: At least one person was killed as Tropical Storm Debby began dumping what could become historic levels of rain over Florida Monday, with the southeastern United States braced for potentially "catastrophic" flooding.

A 13-year-old boy died when a tree was blown onto a mobile home in Levy County, the sheriff's office there said, after Debby made landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast earlier in the day as a Category One hurricane.

Authorities say the danger remains high as the storm moves over the state and into Georgia and South Carolina, despite the downgrade by the National Hurricane Center.

"This is a level four out of four risk for excessive rainfall," Michael Brennan, director of the NHC, told reporters.

"We're going to see the center of the system just crawl along the southeast coast of the United States for two to three days.