As Tropical Storm Debby churns across northern Florida, the storm’s current forecast shows a potential flash flood risk for former President Donald Trump‘s golf course located near Charlotte, North Carolina.
Debby made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near Steinhatchee in Florida’s Big Bend around 7 a.m. Monday. As of noon, at least four deaths in Florida have been confirmed as a result of the hurricane, according to the Associated Press.
Debby weakened into a tropical storm late Monday morning, with top winds hovering around 70 miles per hour. The storm was moving slowly to the north-northeast and was expected to decrease in speed as it turned to the east, forecasters said.
The storm is expected to move eastward over northern Florida and then stall over the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina, lashing the areas with up to 30 inches of rain on Tuesday. Officials also warned of a life-threatening storm surge along Florida’s Gulf Coast, with 6 to 10 feet of inundation expected on Monday between the Ochlockonee and Suwannee rivers.
As the week continues, some storm path models have Debby staying or shifting across eastern North Carolina, away from the Trump National Golf Club in Mooresville, North Carolina.
However, if the storm’s path moves to the north and west, substantial rain, flooding and wind could have a greater impact on the private course during the mid-to-late week period.
Newsweek reached out to Trump National Charlotte’s media contact via email for comment.
Mooresville, located in Iredell County and just north of Charlotte, could receive wind gusts up to 16 mph on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. Up to one inch of rain is currently in the forecast for Thursday into Friday as Debby’s bands pass through the state.
Of note, the 18-hole course and country club sit alongside Lake Norman, a Duke Energy reservoir that covers 32,510 acres and has 520 miles of shoreline. Lake Norman is the largest man-made body of fresh water in North Carolina.
Trump Golf currently operates 18 golf courses worldwide. Its three Florida golf courses are located in the southeast part of the state—in Miami, Jupiter and West Palm Beach—away from Debby’s direct path.
Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, was inquisitive about the course’s condition during a trip to North Carolina in September 2018 to assess Hurricane Florence’s devastation.
AFP/Getty Images
At one point during a briefing, Trump asked an official, “How is Lake Norman doing? I love that area. I can’t tell you why, but I love that area.”
There was no significant damage to the Lake Norman area due to Hurricane Florence.
More than 350,000 customers were without power in Florida and Georgia by midday Monday, the Associated Press reported.
A truck driver died early Monday after he lost control of his tractor-trailer and collided with a concrete wall along Interstate 75 in the Tampa area.
East of Steinhatchee, a 38-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy were killed late Sunday when the car she was driving on a wet road struck a median and then overturned off the road. A 14-year-old boy who was a passenger was hospitalized with serious injuries, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Additionally, a 13-year-old boy died Monday morning after a tree fell on a mobile home located southwest of Gainesville, according to the Levy County Sheriff’s Office.