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Hurricane Idalia strengthened over the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday as it headed toward Florida’s Gulf Coast, forcing evacuations in low-lying coastal areas, while South Carolina went into a state of emergency.
Idalia grew from a tropical storm into a hurricane early on Tuesday, a day after passing west of Cuba, where it damaged homes and flooded villages.
Idalia expected to make landfall early Wednesday
By early Tuesday afternoon, the storm was already some 240 miles (390 kilometers) southwest of Tampa as it moved northward.
Forecasters predict Idalia would make landfall later Wednesday morning as a Category 4 storm with winds of at least 130 mph (209 kph) in the lightly populated Big Bend region, where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula.
Any storm which reaches Category 3 or higher is considered a major hurricane. The National Weather Service in Tallahassee called Idalia “an unprecedented event” since no major hurricanes on record have ever passed through the bay adjoining the Big Bend.
By Tuesday night, US authorities had issued mandatory evacuation orders in at least 28 of Florida’s 67 counties.
“If you have not evacuated, you need to do that right now,” Florida emergency management chief Kevin Guthrie said during an evening news briefing. “You need to drop what you’re doing. You need to go to your room, pack up, pack your things and get to safety.”
Idalia is in line to become the fourth major hurricane to hit Florida in the last seven years, after Irma in 2017, Michael in 2018 and Ian, which peaked at Category 5, in September 2022.
South Carolina declares state of emergency
Meanwhile, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has issued a state of emergency, as a measure to help residents ward off the impact of Idalia.
Most of Florida’s residents, numbering more than 20 million, along with many in Georgia and South Carolina, were under hurricane, tropical storm and storm surge warnings and advisories. A state of emergency has also been declared in Florida.
US President Joe Biden said he and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis — who is in the running to be the Republican candidate for president in 2024— were “in constant contact.”
Biden added that he had assured DeSantis that federal disaster assistance would remain in place for as “long as it takes, and we’ll make sure they have everything they need.”
Governor DeSantis also asked people to evacuate. “You really gotta go now. Now is the time,” he said.
Earlier, the governor had said that residents needed to get to “higher ground in a safe structure,” and not necessarily leave the state.
jsi/kb (AP, Reuters)
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