Boy sheltering at home killed by tree as Hurricane Debby comes ashore, Florida cops say

A 13-year-old boy was killed by a falling tree as Hurricane Debby was making landfall in North Florida, according to investigators.

It happened around 8 a.m on Monday, Aug. 5, in Fanning Springs, an hour after the Category 1 storm made landfall 30 miles to the west in Steinhatchee, officials reported. Fanning Springs is about a 135-mile drive northwest from Orlando.

“The Levy County Sheriff’s Office responded to ... a report of a tree that had fallen onto a mobile home,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

“Deputies (discovered) a 13-year-old male who was crushed inside the home. No other injuries were reported.”

The identity of the teen has not been released as of Aug. 6. He was a student at Chiefland/Middle High School and was living with his grandparents at the time, WPLG reports. The family did not have homeowners insurance, the station said.

At least four people died in weather-related incidents as the storm pounded Florida on Monday, including a Mississippi truck driver who drove off a bridge into a canal on Interstate 75 near Tampa.

Levy County Sheriff Bobby McCallum advised people in the county to show caution venturing out of their homes, noting “downed power lines and falling trees are among the many hazards.”

More than 40% of Levy County was without electricity after the storm, the Levy County government reported. Many roads in the county were “impassible due to flooding or downed trees,” officials said.

This story was originally published August 6, 2024 at 10:32 AM with the headline "Boy sheltering at home killed by tree as Hurricane Debby comes ashore, Florida cops say."