( CNN ) -- Newly formed Tropical Storm Debby hovered in the central Gulf of Mexico late Saturday as coastal communities from Texas to Florida waited for it to make a decisive turn . The storm , packing winds of 50 mph , was located about 220 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River , according to the National Hurricane Center 's 8 p.m . ET advisory . Forecast models did not have a consensus on Debby 's long-term track , and it was nearly stationary Saturday evening . Outer rain bands lashed portions of west-central and south Florida . Nine oil and gas production platforms were evacuated , equivalent to 1.5 % of the 596 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico , the federal government said Saturday . One of 70 rigs was evacuated . The Governor 's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in Louisiana was in touch with parishes and the National Weather Service , said spokeswoman Veronica Mosgrove . `` Our concern is if it were to ... head west we could get some coastal flooding and high tides , '' she told CNN . If needed , the office could coordinate shelter , transportation and assistance with sand bags . Plaquemines Parish on the southern tip of Louisiana planned to declare a state of emergency Sunday morning , said emergency preparedness director Guy Laigast . The parish expects a slow rise of water pushed by the winds . Crews will place sand bags along a back levee in Myrtle Grove , Laigast said . Louisiana Highway 23 , a main road in the parish , could be affected . St. Mary Parish planned Monday to place warning signs at two communities built at sea level , said Duval Arthur , director of emergency preparedness . `` We 're anticipating a 3- to 4-foot high tide . Water would be over the road in those areas . '' Charles Roeseler , meteorologist with the National Weather Service 's Houston-Galveston office , said Debby `` could really go in a number of directions '' -- Florida , Louisiana and Texas . `` It would be a welcome rain '' in Texas , he said . Tropical storm warnings were posted from the mouth of the Pearl River , west to Morgan City , Louisiana , but do not include New Orleans . Such warnings indicate tropical storm conditions are expected within 36 hours in the warning areas . A slow northward movement was expected Sunday morning , followed by a gradual westward turn by late Sunday or early Monday . Some strengthening is expected over the next two days , the center said . The hurricane center predicted a possible storm surge of up to 3 feet along the coast , with estimated rainfall amounts between 3 and 6 inches . Debby 's formation marks the first time in history that four named storms have formed before July 1 , according to CNN Meteorologist Monica O'Connor . First day of summer , and the Northeast sure feels it . CNN 's Phil Gast contributed to this report .
NEW : Louisiana parish plans to place sand bags along levee . Debby is the fourth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season . The National Weather Service says a new tropical depression will form in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday and move into the eastern Caribbean Sea by Tuesday. Evacuations ordered on Gulf oil platforms , rig .