TAMPA, FLORIDA (AP) – Idalia became a hurricane yesterday, threatening to bring deadly storm surge and dangerous winds to Florida’s Gulf Coast after lashing Cuba with heavy rain.
A day earlier, Florida residents loaded up on sandbags and evacuated from homes in low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast to prepare for a storm that the National Hurricane Center projected could have sustained winds of up to 120 mph.
That would make it a Category 3 hurricane – a potentially big blow to a state still dealing with lingering damage from last year’s Hurricane Ian.
The centre of Idalia is forecast to reach the Gulf Coast of Florida today, and move close to the Carolina coastline tomorrow.
“Right now, the biggest hazards are storm surge,” said senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami Robbie Berg.
“We’re expecting a surge as much as eight to 12 feet above normal tide levels in portions of the Big Bend area of Florida.”
Idalia thrashed Cuba with heavy rain, especially in the westernmost part of the island, where the province of Pinar del Rio is still recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian.
Authorities in the province issued a state of alert, and residents were evacuated to friends’ and relatives’ homes.
As much as four inches of rain fell in Cuba on Sunday, meteorological stations reported.
Idalia was expected to start affecting Florida with hurricane-force winds. It is the first storm to hit Florida this hurricane season and authorities urged residents to wrap up storm preparation yesterday. Idalia is also the latest in a summer of natural disasters, including wildfires in Hawaii, Canada and Greece; the first tropical storm to hit California in 84 years, and devastating flooding in Vermont.
“Just got to prepare for these things, hope for the best, and prepare for the worst and, you know, hunker down, as they say,” said Derek Hughes as he waited to load up his car with sandbags at a city park in Tampa.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 46 counties, a broad swath that stretches across the northern half of the state from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic Coast.
The state has mobilised 1,100 National Guard members, who have 2,400 high-water vehicles and 12 aircraft at their disposal for rescue and recovery efforts.
Tampa International Airport and St Pete-Clearwater International Airport were closed yesterday, and the Sunrail commuter rail service in Orlando was being suspended. “The property – we can rebuild someone’s home,” DeSantis said during a news conference on Monday. “You can’t unring the bell, though, if somebody stays in harm’s way and does battle with Mother Nature.”
DeSantis said the Florida Department of Transportation waived tolls on highways in the Tampa area and the Big Bend starting at 4am yesterday to help ease any burden on people in the path of the storm.
Large parts of the western coast of Florida are at risk for storm surges and floods.
Evacuation notices have been issued in 21 counties with mandatory orders for some people in eight of those counties.
Many of the notices were for people in low-lying and coastal areas, for those living in structures such as mobile and manufactured homes, recreational vehicles and boats, and for people who would be vulnerable in a power outage.
