Key PointsIdalia unleashed destructive winds and torrential downpours along the US state’s Gulf Coast.Surge warnings were posted for hundreds of kilometres of shoreline.More than 275,000 homes and businesses were without power in Florida as of midday.
Hurricane Idalia has slammed into the Big Bend region of Florida, where millions of residents had fled or hunkered down in anticipation of a dangerous surge of tidal water, but the storm’s power has ebbed as it heads toward Georgia.
Drawing strength from the Gulf of Mexico’s warm waters, Idalia unleashed destructive winds and torrential downpours that were forecast to cause coastal flooding up to five metres deep along the US state’s Gulf Coast.
Idalia came ashore at 7.45am on Wednesday at Keaton Beach, a town of 13,000 people in Taylor County, in the centre of the Big Bend region, where the state’s northern panhandle curves into the Florida Peninsula.
“It’s just ripping through Taylor County now. Hope all is safe,” County Commissioner Jamie English said by telephone.
“Winds gusting. Terrible power outages all over. Debris flying everywhere.”
The storm’s most dangerous feature would be a powerful surge of wind-driven surf that is expected to flood low-lying areas along the coast, officials said.
Surge warnings were posted for hundreds of kilometres of shoreline, from Sarasota to the western end of Apalachicola Bay.
“If you end up with a storm surge that even approaches 16 feet, the chances of surviving that are not great,” Florida governor Ron DeSantis said.
“You would need to be in a three-storey building because it is going to rise very, very high.”
Daniel Dickert wades through water in front of his home where the Steinhatchee River overflowed on Wednesday, 30 August 2023, in Steinhatchee, Florida, after the arrival of Hurricane Idalia. Source: AAP / Douglas R Clifford
Idalia weakened to a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale and was crossing into southern Georgia, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory on Wednesday.
There were few early reports of flooding available.
Stations in the densely populated Tampa area showed water levels at a “minor flooding” stage at 10am.
In Hillsborough County, an area of 1.5 million people south of the Big Bend region that includes Tampa, crews were dealing with widespread damage and flooded streets, officials said in a news briefing.
“Folks, this storm is not over. If you are in a safe location, please remain there,” said Emergency Management Director Timothy Dudley, noting that local waterways would crest at high tide at 2.30pm.
Most of Florida’s 21 million residents, and many in the adjacent states of Georgia and South Carolina, were under hurricane warnings and other storm-related advisories.
State emergency declarations were issued in all three.
Two motorists died in separate rain-related crashes on Wednesday morning, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
More than 275,000 homes and businesses were without power in Florida as of midday, Poweroutage.us reported.
More than 64,000 in Georgia were also without power.
At the White House on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said he and DeSantis, who is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Biden in the 2024 presidential election, were “in constant contact” about storm preparations.
Idalia barreled into the northwest Florida coast as a powerful Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday morning, the US National Hurricane Centre said. Source: Getty / Chandan Khanna
Biden said they shared a desire to help Floridians. “This is not about politics, it’s about taking care of the people of the state,” Biden told reporters.
Criswell said earlier that more than 1,000 personnel from FEMA’s rapid assessment teams were ready to hit the ground to assess storm damage once Idalia passes.
It was the fourth major hurricane to strike Florida in the past seven years, following Irma in 2017, Michael in 2018 and Ian, which peaked at Category 5, last September.
