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Dangerous Hurricane Idalia Leaves Trail of Destruction in Florida
Extremely Dangerous Hurricane Idalia is Forecast to Become a Category 4 Storm as It Barrels Towards Florida
Hurricane Idalia: Florida Hunkers Down For Unprecedented Storm
BBC 30 AUG 2023
People in the path of Hurricane Idalia have been warned to evacuate without delay, as the storm hurtles towards the US state of Florida.
It is forecast to hit the Gulf Coast as a major Category 4 hurricane with winds up to 125mph (201km/h) on Wednesday morning.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned Idalia would bring "life-threatening" weather to the state. Coastal areas could be deluged by a storm surge of up to 10-15ft (3-5m).
"Very few people can survive being in the path of a major storm surge, and this storm will be deadly if we don't get out of harm's way and take it seriously," said Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Deanne Criswell.
The storm was upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane on Tuesday afternoon, with maximum sustained winds of 100mph.
Idalia is projected to strike the vulnerable coastal area of Big Bend, which has not seen such a major hurricane since the 1800s, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said.
Big Bend sits roughly where north-south portion of the state's peninsula bends toward the east-west portion of the Panhandle, curving along the Apalachee Bay.
According to the NHC, no major hurricane has tracked into Apalachee Bay in north-western Florida since 1851.
"For some communities this is probably going to be worse than they're envisioning, because so few people understand the power of a major hurricane," Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the National Hurricane Centre, told the BBC.
Idalia's outer bands have already brought tornado warnings in several Southwest Florida communities, including Golden Gate, Naples, and Marco Island.
Twenty-eight of Florida's 67 counties were under some form of evacuation order as of Tuesday evening, including 14 mandatory orders in counties clustered along the state's upper Gulf Coast.
Urging people in evacuation areas to move to safety, Mr DeSantis said residents that do not leave immediately will not be able to do so until the storm passes.
"You don't need to run hundreds of miles, just get to higher ground, get to a safe structure," Mr DeSantis said.
Much of Florida, including the densely populated Tampa area, is braced for severe weather. Tampa International Airport closed on Tuesday, and is expected to remain shut until Thursday morning.
Chanel Jay, who is facing her second hurricane in a year since moving to Florida from Pennsylvania, told the BBC she wasn't taking any chances.
She was hunkering down in an East Tampa shelter set up at a school about a 10-minute drive away from her home."Florida weather has a mind of its own," she said.
Mary Wolcott Martino, 79, a travel writer in St Petersburg, a city in the Tampa Bay area, told Reuters news agency she was packing up as fast as she could on Tuesday afternoon.
She grabbed items that could not be replaced, including hard drives with family photos.
"We're leaving in five minutes, headed out the door now," she said. She and her husband are not bothering to board up their home, like they have in the past, telling Reuters they are more concerned about storm surges than winds.
"We're on the canal and just nine feet above sea level," she said.
Graphic of Hurricane Idalia's predicted path as of Tuesday evening local time
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