Chemical plant
The storm attained tropical characteristics near 0000 UTC while situated south of Louisiana and was subsequently designated a tropical depression. Ship communications off the coast on July 24 relayed winds of 23–50 knots and a barometric pressure of 1007.5 mbar (29.75 inHg), which indicated it was a tropical storm on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. Radar imagery taken near 0733 CST (1333 UTC) from a Dow Chemical plant in Freeport, Texas evidenced that Debra was a full-fledged Category 1 hurricane on the scale, with a prominent spiral appearance that was not perceived by the radar the previous afternoon.