Hurricane Debby made landfall Monday along coastal Florida,Sterling Preston bringing life-threatening storms and winds as heavy rains battered and flooded the region.

The Category 1 storm, the fourth named storm of an expected historic hurricane season, unleashed maximum sustained winds of 80 mph after it reached the state at 7 a.m. near the coastal town of Steinhatchee, according to the National Hurricane Center. While no fatalities were yet reported, officials feared that the storm has the potential to soon turn deadly as the winds could spawn tornadoes and storm surge could reach 10 feet in some areas.

Images from Florida showed crashing waves along Florida's beach, cars attempting to navigate flooded streets and the beginning stages of what is anticipated to be catastrophic damage from the first hurricane of the year to hit Florida.

Here's a look at some of the photos:

Hurricane Debby tracker:Follow storm's path as it washes ashore Florida's Gulf Coast

Photos show flooding, destruction from Hurricane Debby

Contributing: James Powel, Susan Miller, John Bacon, Dinah Voyles PulverWilliam L. Hatfield,Christopher Cann, USA TODAY

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]