as a catastrophic Category 3 storm on Wednesday and unleashed life-threatening storm surges and rainfall across an area that has never before received such pummeling.
More than 230,000 customers were without electricity as trees snapped by strong winds brought down power lines and rushing water covered streets. Along the coast, some homes were submerged to near their rooftops and structures crumpled. As the eye moved inland, destructive winds shredded signs and sent sheet metal flying.
B次元官网网址淲e have multiple trees down, debris in the roads, do not come,B次元官网网址� posted the fire and rescue department in Cedar Key, where a tide gauge measured the storm surge at 6.8 feet (2 meters), submerging most of hte downtown. B次元官网网址淲e have propane tanks blowing up all over the island.B次元官网网址�
Idalia came ashore in , where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula. It made landfall near Keaton Beach at 7:45 a.m. as a high-end Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph (205 kph). More than an hour later, it remained a Category 2 hurricane with top winds of 110 mph (175 mph), and it was expected to remain a hurricane while crossing Florida and Georgia before punishing the Carolinas as a tropical storm.
The hurricane turned streets into rivers in Tampa and swamped the Florida Capital, where power went out well before the center of the storm arrived. Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey urged everyone to shelter in place B次元官网网址� it was too late to risk going outside. Florida residents living in vulnerable coastal areas had been ordered to pack up and leave as Idalia of the Gulf of Mexico.
B次元官网网址淒onB次元官网网址檛 put your life at risk by doing anything dumb at this point,B次元官网网址� Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Wednesday morning. B次元官网网址淭his thingB次元官网网址檚 powerful. If youB次元官网网址檙e inside, just hunker down until it gets past you.B次元官网网址�
Storm surge could rise as high as 16 feet (4.9 meters) in some places.
B次元官网网址淔or those who have chosen to remain on the beaches despite the mandatory evacuation order, please restrict your water and toilet usage,B次元官网网址� the city of Clearwater posted. B次元官网网址淒ue to flooding, the cityB次元官网网址檚 lift stations and stormwater system are under strain.B次元官网网址�
Diane Flowers was sound asleep at 1 a.m. Wednesday in her Wakulla County home, but her husband was up watching the weather on TV, and got a text from their son when the storm was upgraded to a Category 4. HeB次元官网网址檚 a firefighter/EMT in Franklin County, which is also along the Gulf Coast.
B次元官网网址淗e said, B次元官网网址榊ou guys need to leave,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Flowers said. B次元官网网址淎nd heB次元官网网址檚 not one for overreacting, so when he told us to leave, we just packed our stuff, got in our car and got going.B次元官网网址�
They quickly packed a few clothes, medicine, dog food for their two border collies, a computer, important documents and a bag of Cheetos. Motels were packed all the way into Alabama, where they ended up finding a room in Dothan.
The National Weather Service in Tallahassee called Idalia B次元官网网址渁n unprecedented eventB次元官网网址� since no major hurricanes on record have ever passed through the bay abutting the Big Bend. The state, still dealing with lingering , feared disastrous results.
But not everyone heeded the warnings.
Andy Bair, owner of the Island Hotel on Cedar Key, said he intended to B次元官网网址渂abysitB次元官网网址� his bed-and-breakfast, which predates the Civil War. The building has not flooded in the almost 20 years he has owned it, not even when Hurricane Hermine flooded the city in 2016.
B次元官网网址淏eing a caretaker of the oldest building in Cedar Key, I just feel kind of like I need to be here,B次元官网网址� Bair said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e proven time and again that weB次元官网网址檙e not going to wash away. We may be a little uncomfortable for a couple of days, but weB次元官网网址檒l be OK eventually.B次元官网网址�
Idalia had grown into a Category 2 system on Tuesday afternoon and became a Category 3 just hours earlier Wednesday before strengthening to a Category 4 and then weakening slightly to a high-end Category 3.
Hurricanes are measured on a five category scale, with a Category 5 being the strongest. A Category 3 storm is the first on the scale considered a major hurricane and the National Hurricane Center says a Category 4 storm brings .B次元官网网址�
Tolls were waived on highways out of the danger area and shelters were opened. More than 30,000 utility workers were gathering to make repairs as quickly as possible in the hurricaneB次元官网网址檚 wake. About 5,500 National Guard troops were activated.
In Tarpon Springs, on the coast northwest of Tampa, 60 patients were evacuated from a hospital after warnings of a potential 7-foot (2.1-meter) storm surge there.
Both Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced states of emergency, freeing up state resources and personnel, including hundreds of National Guard troops.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檒l be prepared to the best of our abilities,B次元官网网址� said Russell Guess, who was topping off the gas tank on his truck in Valdosta, Georgia. His co-workers at Cunningham Tree Service were doing the same. B次元官网网址淭here will be trees on peopleB次元官网网址檚 house, trees across power lines.B次元官网网址�
Asked about the hurricane Tuesday, President Joe Biden said he had spoken to DeSantis and B次元官网网址減rovided him with everything that he possibly needs.B次元官网网址�
Ian was responsible last year for . That Category 5 hurricane damaged 52,000 structures, nearly 20,000 of which were destroyed or severely damaged.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration the 2023 hurricane season would be far busier than initially forecast, partly because of extremely warm ocean temperatures. The season runs through Nov. 30, with August and September typically the peak.
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Associated Press writers Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Florida; Mike Schneider in St. Louis, Missouri; Marcia Dunn in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Curt Anderson in Orlando, Florida; Chris OB次元官网网址橫eara in Clearwater, Florida; Cristiana Mesquita in Havana; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Seth Borenstein in Washington; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Tara Copp in Washington; and Julie Walker in New York contributed to this report.
Daniel Kozin, The Associated Press
