Hurricane Idalia makes landfall over Florida's Big Bend as a Category 3, hundreds of thousands without power
Hurricane Idalia directly impacting Gainesville, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Dowling Park, Lake City, Cedar Key, and other Florida cities
Hurricane Idalia made landfall over Florida’s Gulf Coast as a "catastrophic" Category 3 storm Wednesday at 7:45 a.m., leaving hundreds of thousands of residents without power, officials said. It has since been downgraded to a Category 1 storm.
Idalia produced storm surges that reached several feet in some areas and brought damaging winds that howled up to 130 miles per hour at one point, according to the National Hurricane Center. It also caused flooding that has completely encompassed Floridian roadways when it passed the Apalachee Bay and made landfall over Florida's Big Bend region, where the peninsula merges into the Panhandle.
It is directly impacting Gainesville, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Dowling Park, Lake City, Cedar Key, Chiefland, Newberry, Cross City, Apalachicola, and Perry. Its impact will also be felt in Orlando, Spring Hill, Bradenton, Bartow, Ocala, Lake Placid, Tampa, Sarasota, and Fort Myers.
By 11 a.m. Wednesday, the storm was a Category 1, with sustained winds of 90 mph, and its impact was being felt in Georgia, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Authorities continue to urge caution as, despite the slight decline, the storm remains dangerous and potentially life-threatening.
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This photo provided by FDOT shows flooded interstate 275 Over Tampa Bay, Florida, on Wednesday, Aug. 30. (FDOT via AP)
Over 270,000 Florida residents and at least 40,000 Georgia residents were without power as of Wednesday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.
Further outages are expected as the storm continues pummeling the state as Idalia continues its northeast path to Georgia and then the Atlantic Ocean.
The National Weather Service in Tallahassee called Idalia "an unprecedented event" as it rapidly intensified over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and obtained Category 4 status within 24 hours. It downgraded slightly, officially becoming a high-end Category 3 storm when it made landfall, before downgrading again.
The NWS also said "no one" has witnessed a storm strengthen to such magnitude in such a short time.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis fully activated the Florida National Guard and its approximately 5,500 soldiers and airmen members for Hurricane Idalia response operations.
"The 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team is conducting immediate response operations with multi-purpose units in western coastal counties. We also have units providing reinforcement throughout central and northeast Florida, as well as providing support to the State Logistics Response Center (SLRC) and County Emergency Operation Centers (EOC)," the Florida National Guard said in a statement.
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Aircrews of the Florida Army National Guard’s Company C, 1st Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment deployed from the Cecil Airport in Jacksonville while soldiers with the Florida Army National Guard's Company A, 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment came from Leesburg.
Florida Army National Guard soldiers with the 1-111th Aviation Regiment load pallets of water and Meals Ready-To-Eat(MREs) onto be distrubuted to citizens affected by Hurricane Idalia onto a CH-47F Chinook helicopter at Cecil Field, Fla., Aug. 29, 2023. (Florida Army National Guard)
Soldiers with the Florida Army National Guard's Company A, 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment gather around First Sgt. Arthur Ledger at Charles P. Lovell Armory in Leesburg, Florida, August 28, 2023. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Marc Morgenstern)
The governor also said during a press conference Wednesday morning that "there will be an immediate effort to restore power to those who lose power."
"The goal is to get everybody back online as quickly as possible," he added, saying search and rescue efforts would remain throughout the storm’s duration, as long as it was safe to do so.
He also said the Florida Department of Transportation had 650 heavy vehicles currently in use and about 30,000 powerline personnel tasked with restoring power.
For the Big Bend region, this is the strongest hurricane in over 150 years.
No major hurricanes – those classified as Category 3 or higher – have made landfall through the Big Bend region since hurricane data was first recorded in 1851. Idalia is now the first.
"Idalia is expected to produce a swath of 4 to 8 inches of rainfall with isolated [totals of] up to 12 inches from the Florida Big Bend through central Georgia and South Carolina, and through eastern North Carolina into Thursday," the National Hurricane Center said in a Wednesday morning advisory. "These rainfall amounts will lead to areas of flash, urban, and moderate river flooding, with considerable impacts."
State and local officials are urging caution and have specifically instructed residents to get out of vehicles, which are easily swept away by intense wind gusts and water surging through the streets.
Steady winds also bring water from the Gulf onto Florida’s beaches and roads, drowning out transportation avenues and leaving vehicles stranded.
According to NOAA, water levels in Cedar Key surpassed 10 feet Wednesday morning, breaking the previous record of 5.99 feet. The previous record was set during Hurricane Hermine in September 2016.
Vehicles sit in a flooded street caused by Hurricane Idalia passing offshore on Aug. 30, 2023, in St. Petersburg, Florida. Hurricane Idalia is hitting the Big Bend area of Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Steve Gaskins, a sergeant at the Florida Highway Patrol, told FOX Weather Idalia was "a storm that is causing a lot of issues."
The "biggest" problem for emergency response crews was the flooding, he said.
In Tampa, resident Matthew Heller told Fox News Digital that it was "heartbreaking" to see his home being flooded.
Heller said his property backs up to the Hillsborough River and security cameras set up on his boat deck captured storm surge making its way into the lower level.
Reporters wade through flood waters as it inundates the downtown area after Hurricane Idalia passed offshore on August 30, 2023 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Hurricane Idalia is hitting the Big Bend area of Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
"I'm self-insured with everything, so just having to deal with all of this, its going to be a long cleanup process," he said.
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FOX Weather aired a doorbell camera in Cedar Key that captured a Cadillac sedan, left vacate by its owner, pushed several feet by the storm as surrounding water rose for hours, eclipsing the vehicle's bumper and tires before water likely washed it away.
State of emergency orders have already been declared in at least 50 continues.
In an aerial view, a fire is seen as flood waters inundate the downtown area after Hurricane Idalia passed offshore on August 30, 2023 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Hurricane Idalia is hitting the Big Bend area of Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Also, the Tallahassee International Airport and the Tampa International Airport have been closed.
Vehicles sit in a flooded street caused by Hurricane Idalia passing offshore on Aug. 30, 2023, in St. Petersburg, Florida. Hurricane Idalia is hitting the Big Bend area of Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Residents have been repeatedly warned to evacuate the storm’s path and to heed advice by local and state officials.
On Tuesday, DeSantis warned residents in the storm’s path to leave immediately.
"You really got to go now. Now is the time." He added, "If you stay hunkered down tonight, it's going to be too nasty tomorrow morning to be able to do it."
The governor also announced the ride-share service Uber would be providing residents with free transport to storm service centers.
Beachgoers check out the surf as Hurricane Idalia approaches Florida at Times Square on Fort Myers Beach on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023. (Andrew West/The News-Press / USA TODAY NETWORK)
While Florida residents and others in the state felt the effects of the storm through Tuesday evening and earlier Wednesday morning, the National Hurricane Center says a storm such as a hurricane officially makes "landfall" when its center intersects with a coastline
"Because the strongest winds in a tropical cyclone are not located precisely at the center, it is possible for a cyclone's strongest winds to be experienced over land even if landfall does not occur. Similarly, it is possible for a tropical cyclone to make landfall and have its strongest winds remain over the water," it clarifies.
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