Hurricane Idalia live updates: Intensifying storm plows toward Florida

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Idalia nearing Florida’s Big Bend

Idalia was nearing Florida’s Big Bend coast early this morning, with the storm estimated to be 160 miles south of Tallahassee at 1 a.m. ET.

The hurricane was moving north, almost parallel to the state’s west coast, at 16 mph, federal forecasters said.

The state capital is not right on the coast — about 25 miles could be shaved off that distance to measure Idalia’s path to the coastline.

The storm was also about 115 miles southwest of Cedar Key, in Levy County, where a mandatory evacuation order was issued yesterday.

The storm remained just below Category 3 strength, with sustained winds believed to be at 110 mph. Forecasters said it is likely to move up to Category 4 before it makes landfall sometime this morning.

In either category, Idalia jumps to “major hurricane” status and the destruction associated with categories 3 through 5.

Idalia expected to make landfall as Category 4

Idalia is expected to be a Category 4 hurricane by the time it makes landfall along Florida’s Big Bend region this morning, the National Hurricane Center said late last night.

A Category 4 storm brings with it the possibility of catastrophic damage, structural damage and uprooted trees and utility poles, the hurricane center says. It means some areas might not be habitable for weeks.

With sustained winds of 110 mph, the storm was 1 mph shy of Category 3 on its way to the more powerful Category 4 status, according to the National Hurricane Center.

People board up a window in Tampa, Florida, on Aug. 29, 2023, as the city prepares for Hurricane Idalia.
People board up a window Tuesday in Tampa, Fla., as the city prepares for Hurricane Idalia. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP via Getty Images

Sustained winds of 111 mph would put it at Category 3. Sustained winds of 130 or greater would make it a Category 4 storm. Either would mean a shift from hurricane to major hurricane, a status given at Category 3 and higher.

The hurricane was about 125 miles west of Tampa and gaining strength, the National Hurricane Center said. It was moving north at 18 mph and was expected to make landfall sometime in the morning.

Florida has people, fuel on standby to respond to post-storm needs

To prepare for Idalia, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis activated the National Guard, and President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration.

DeSantis said the state had staged resources to be ready to respond throughout Florida, addressing power needs and threats to residents.

DeSantis said Florida was ready with 1.1 million gallons of fuel and nearly 30,000 workers who would help restore power. 

Florida’s Big Bend, the ‘Nature Coast,’ is in Idalia’s path

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida’s Big Bend is one of the last truly natural places in the state. It’s not Disney World; it’s not South Beach. This is where people go to hunt alligators, fish for tarpon and search for scallops in the shallow waters. Now it’s in the bull’s-eye of a major hurricane.

The Big Bend is where the peninsula merges into the Panhandle, just southeast of the capital, Tallahassee, and well north of metropolitan Tampa. Hurricane Idalia would be the first major storm to hit there since Hurricane Easy in 1950, according to the National Hurricane Center.

This is where people go to appreciate nature and be left alone.

“The counties of Florida’s Nature Coast believe that many people — our residents, and those who travel here from far away — think having a good time involves more than expensive restaurants, theme parks, and crowded beaches,” a website devoted to the region says.

Because of the unique shape of the Big Bend coastline, Idalia “is going to bring some pretty massive storm surge,” said Kristen Corbosiero, an atmospheric scientist at the State University of New York at Albany. “The water can get piled up in that bay. And then the winds of the storm come around, they go around counterclockwise, that’s going the same direction, the same shape of the bay, so that water can just get pushed in there.”

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