Hurricane Idalia a Major Threat to Florida: Report

Hurricane Idalia, which rapidly strengthened from a tropical storm, is expected to make a landfall in Florida’s Gulf Coast Wednesday morning with dangerous storm surge and winds. The National Hurricane Center said it’s a rare event for a natural, storm surge-prone divot along the coast stretching from Tamp to south of Tallahassee. This is the latest storm in US’s summer of natural disasters. 

The hurricane’s path is expected to impact a wide central portion of the state, including major cities Tampa and Orlando. The National Hurricane Center said Idalia’s center is forecast to soon pass near or over western Cuba, trek over the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, before slamming into the Gulf Coast of Florida Wednesday. 

There will be damaging winds and heavy rain spread far inland into Florida, parts of Georgia and Carolina. The Center expects the hurricane to dump 4 to 8 inches of rain from Tuesday into Thursday across parts of the west coast of Florida, Panhandle, southeast Georgia, and eastern Carolinas. 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency in the state’s 46 counties. About 1,100 National Guard members have been mobilized with 2,400 high-water vehicles and 12 aircraft for rescue and recovery efforts. DeSantis warned of a major impact to Florida, as the storm evolved into a Category 3 hurricane. 

“The property, we can rebuild someone’s home. You can’t unring the bell, though, if somebody stays in harm’s way and does battle with Mother Nature.” The Governor said the Florida Department of Transportation would waive tolls on highways in Tampa area and the Big Bend starting at 4am Tuesday to help ease any burden on people in the path of the storm. 

Meanwhile, residents in large paths of the western coast of Florida have been warned and alerted about the risk of floods as heavy rain continues to pound. Authorities have issued evacuation notices in 21 counties, including mandatory orders in eight of these counties.