Hurricane Idalia rams into Florida, bringing flooding and 125 mph winds

TAMPA, Fla. (CN) — Hurricane Idalia slammed into the Big Bend area of Florida on Wednesday morning as a Category 3 storm with winds of 125 mph, bringing “catastrophic” storm surge to the rural portion of the state that has not seen a major hurricane in more than 100 years.

The major hurricane made landfall near Keaton Beach in Taylor County at 7:45 a.m., according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm continued north-northeast at 18 mph and will move into southern Georgia later today as a weakened hurricane.

“Although Idalia will weaken further now that the center is inland, it is likely to still be a hurricane while moving across southern Georgia, and near the coast of Georgia or southern South Carolina late today,” the NHC advisory stated.

The storm surge continues to rise along the Big Bend region. A tidal gauge at Cedar Key, just south of the hurricane’s landfall, reported water levels 6 feet above sea level. Forecasters estimate the surge could top 16 feet.

“The Gulf is completely out of its banks,” said Michael Bobbitt of Cedar Key in a video posted to social media on Wednesday morning. “It’s going to swallow up the whole town.”

Only one death has been reported — a fatal car accident in Gainesville, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Hurricane Idalia impacted large swaths of the state’s west coast overnight, bringing flooding to low-lying areas from Fort Myers to Tallahassee, widespread power outages and several tornado warnings.

More than 268,000 households are without power, according to poweroutage.us.

“As soon as it is safe to do so, as soon as the winds die down to a sufficient level, search and rescue efforts will begin,” Governor Ron DeSantis said during a briefing just before landfall.

The Republican governor said the state has eight urban search-and-rescue teams and 5,500 National Guard members to help with relief efforts.

In Tampa, the Florida Highway Patrol closed the Howard Frankland Bridge, the metro area’s largest bridge connecting Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. Pinellas County’s barrier islands, which officials evacuated on Tuesday, remain largely flooded and closed to residents. The entire area is still under a tornado watch until later this afternoon as bands from the storm continue to batter the state.

The memories of last year’s devastating Hurricane Ian loomed over public officials and residents this year. That storm, which made landfall near Fort Myers Beach with winds of 155 mph, was one of the worst to hit the state in modern times. Ian caused 149 deaths and hundreds of billions of dollars in damage. Many communities have yet to fully recover.

Public officials and forecasters continually stressed that people should not just focus on the hurricane’s cone of trajectory, worried that residents may not take storm surges seriously.

“The cone does not tell you the potential damage the storm can do,” said Cathie Perkins, director of Pinellas County Emergency Management, on Tuesday. 

That prompted evacuation orders in 22 counties for those living on the coast or in mobile home parks.

On Monday, President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration that authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to begin coordinating disaster relief efforts.

“The president spoke to Governor DeSantis and told him he quickly approved the emergency declaration for Florida,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at a Monday briefing. “The president also expressed the administration’s full commitment and support to Florida.”

Follow @alexbpickett

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