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US President Joe Biden warned Wednesday that Hurricane Idalia was “still very dangerous” even though it had weakened to a tropical storm after it bound into Florida earlier in the day.
The weakened intensity occurred after Idalia roared into Florida’s Big Bend region as a powerful hurricane, bringing torrential rain and threats of flash flooding on Wednesday afternoon to Georgia.
Moving toward southern Georgia
In Florida, authorities had feared a powerful storm surge may have inundated communities in the Big Bend region.
Idalia barreled into Florida’s Gulf Coast with fierce winds, torrential rains and pounding surf before weakening and turning its fury on southeastern Georgia, where floodwaters trapped some people in their homes.
Category 3 hurricane
Hours after Idalia arrived as a powerful Category 3 hurricane at Keaton Beach, Florida, packing winds of about 125 miles per hour (201 kilometers per hour), authorities were still trying to assess the full extent of damage in the worst-hit areas.
At a late afternoon press conference, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis — who is in the running to be the Republican nominee for president in 2024 — said there were no immediate reports of hurricane-related fatalities.
DeSantis also said that it seemed most residents in vulnerable, low-lying areas had heeded evacuation orders and warnings to move to higher ground while President Biden confirmed he was regularly in touch with all affected state governors.
jsi/kb (AP, Reuters)
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