AP – Hurricane Idalia strengthened to a dangerous Category 3 storm early yesterday as it steamed toward Florida’s Big Bend region, according to the National Hurricane Centre.
Florida residents living in vulnerable coastal areas were ordered to pack up and leave as Hurricane Idalia gained strength in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and authorities warned of a catastrophic storm surge and destructive winds when the storm moves ashore yesterday morning. Idalia was packing sustained winds of 190 kilometres per hour (kph) early yesterday, after growing into a Category 2 system on Tuesday afternoon.
It was projected to make landfall yesterday morning as a Category 4 storm with winds of at least 209kph in the lightly populated Big Bend region, where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula. The result could be a big blow to a state still dealing with lingering damage from last year’s Hurricane Ian.
The National Weather Service in Tallahassee called Idalia an unprecedented event since no major hurricanes on record have ever passed through the bay abutting the Big Bend.
On the island of Cedar Key, Commissioner Sue Colson joined other city officials in packing up documents and electronics at City Hall on Tuesday. She had a message for the almost 900 residents who were under mandatory orders to evacuate. More than a dozen state troopers went door to door warning residents that storm surge could rise as high as 4.5 metres.
“One word: Leave,” Colson said. “It’s not something to discuss.”
Governor Ron DeSantis repeated the warning at Tuesday afternoon news conference. “You really gotta go now. Now is the time,” he said. Earlier, the governor stressed that residents didn’t necessarily need to leave the state, but should get to higher ground in a safe structure.
Tolls were waived on highways out of the danger area, shelters were open and hotels prepared to take in evacuees.
More than 30,000 utility workers were gathering to make repairs as quickly as possible in the hurricane’s wake. About 5,500 National Guard troops were activated.
In Tarpon Springs, a coastal community northwest of Tampa, 60 patients were evacuated from a hospital out of concern that the system could bring a 2.1-metre storm surge.