Flood waters from Hurricane Idalia inundate Steinhatchee, Florida
Hurricane Idalia has left behind a trail of destruction with evacuated residents returning to find their homes gone while thousands more are still without power.
Idalia ploughed into Florida as a Category 3 Hurricane on Wednesday morning before losing power as it moved inland through Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
As of 4am ET on Friday morning, the National Hurricane Center reported that Idalia had the strength of a post-tropical cyclone and was heading for Bermuda where it will bring heavy rain and powerful winds over the weekend.
In Florida, 97,000 homes were still without power as of 4.45am ET on Friday morning.
Governor Ron DeSantis said on Thursday that restoring power and clearing debris would be a key priority throughout Friday. There are also concerns over flesh-eating bacteria, carbon monoxide, and other health risks in the state, local officials said.
Analysts are now estimating that Idalia may become the most costly climate disaster in the US this year, according to a report, as President Joe Biden has requested billions of dollars more in extra disaster relief as part of a supplemental funding request.
Mr Biden will visit Florida on Saturday morning to survey the recovery efforts.
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Florida residents share heartbreaking photos of Hurricane Idalia’s wrath
Florida residents shared heartbreaking photos of the destruction caused by Hurricane Idalia after the powerful storm swept into the state on Wednesday.
Idalia made landfall around 8am as an “extremely dangerous” Category 3 storm with 120mph winds and warnings of “catastrophic” coastal surge up to 15 feet in places. More than 250,000 customers were left without power on Wednesday.
The hurricane came ashore near Keaton Beach in Big Bend, southeast of Tallahassee, an area known as “Florida’s nature coast” and less densely-populated than other parts of the state.
But that was cold comfort for the small, tranquil communities dotting the coastline with Idalia forecast to be the strongest storm to hit the region in more than 100 years.
Louise Boyle2 September 2023 14:00
DeSantis says Florida will apply for federal funds
Oliver O’Connell2 September 2023 13:40
DeSantis leadership tested as he trades the campaign trail for crisis management
First a shooting, then a storm.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is facing a one-two punch testing his leadership at a critical moment for his presidential campaign, with the Republican moving to cast aside his role as culture warrior and show the country that he can govern through crises.
Oliver O’Connell2 September 2023 13:15
ICYMI: DeSantis hit by power outage in middle of Hurricane Idalia briefing
Rachel Sharp2 September 2023 12:30
Could Hurricane Idalia be US’s costliest climate disaster this year?
Analysts are estimating that Hurricane Idalia may become the most costly climate disaster in the US this year, according to a report.
The storm — which made landfall near Big Bend, Florida, on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane — caused an estimated $9.36bn based on early estimates from UBS, a risk analysis firm. However, those are only early estimates; Accuweather predicted the total damage could be somewhere between $18bn and $20bn.
Graig Graziosi2 September 2023 11:30
Before and after Hurricane Idalia made landfall captured by satellites
Oliver O’Connell2 September 2023 09:30
ICYMI: Car carrying two people is flipped into air by Hurricane Idalia
The black sedan was travelling through severe rainfall near Goose Creek, north of Charleston, on Wednesday afternoon when severe gusts of wind threw it up in the air at an intersection.
Footage shows the car being flipped upwards by the strong winds, causing it to spin on its rear wheels before flipping upside down and landing on the roof of another oncoming car.
Oliver O’Connell2 September 2023 07:30
Tampa Bay area again dodges direct hit from major hurricane
Last year it was Hurricane Ian that drew a bead on Tampa Bay before abruptly shifting east to strike southwest Florida more than 130 miles (210 kilometers) away. This time it was Hurricane Idalia, which caused some serious flooding as it sideswiped the area but packed much more punch at landfall Wednesday, miles to the north.
In fact, the Tampa Bay area hasn’t been hit directly by a major hurricane for more than a century. The last time it happened, there were just a few hundred thousand people living in the region, compared with more than 3 million today.
Why do so many destructive hurricanes start with the letter ‘I’?
Hurricane Idalia caused widespread damage after making landfall as an “extremely dangerous”, Category 3 storm in Florida on Wednesday.
Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, and residents shared heartbreaking images of the destruction Idalia caused.
Idalia, which is pronounced Ee-DAL-ya and has Greek or Spanish origins, joined a long list of notoriously destructive hurricanes, whose names start with the letter “I”.
Why Hurricane Idalia stopped intensifying and turned away from Tallahassee
In the final hours before Hurricane Idalia struck Florida the storm had grown into a Category 4 beast lurking off the state’s west coast, and the forecast called for it to continue intensifying up until landfall.
An Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft had recorded winds up to 130 mph (215 kph), the National Hurricane Center said in an ominous bulletin at 6 a.m. Wednesday.
As the sun rose an hour later, however, there was evidence the hurricane began replacing the wall around its eye — a phenomenon that experts say kept it from further intensifying. Maximum winds had dropped to near 125 mph (205 kph), the Hurricane Center said in a 7 a.m. update.
Then came another surprising twist: A last-minute turn sparing the state’s capital city of Tallahassee from far more serious damage.
