Hurricane Idalia is unleashing life-threatening wind and rain in Florida and Georgia. It made landfall as a dangerous Category 3 hurricane early Wednesday in the lightly populated Big Bend region, where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula.
CEDAR KEY, Fla. — Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday in Florida as a Category 3 storm and unleashed devastation along a wide stretch of the Gulf Coast, submerging homes and vehicles, turning streets into rivers, unmooring small boats and downing power lines in an area that has never before received such a pummeling.
Idalia came ashore in the lightly populated Big Bend region, where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula. It made landfall near Keaton Beach at 5:45 a.m. MDT as a high-end Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph. Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey urged everyone to shelter in place — it was too late to risk going outside. Florida residents living in vulnerable coastal areas had been ordered to pack up and leave as IdaliaZeke Pierce rides his paddle board down the middle of a flooded Bayshore Blvd in downtown in Tampa, Fla., Wednesday. Hurricane Idalia steamed toward Florida’s Big Bend region Wednesday morning.
"For those who have chosen to remain on the beaches despite the mandatory evacuation order, please restrict your water and toilet usage," the city of Clearwater posted. "Due to flooding, the city's lift stations and stormwater system are under strain." The National Weather Service in Tallahassee called Idalia "an unprecedented event" since no major hurricanes on record have ever passed through the bay abutting the Big Bend. The state, still dealing with lingering damage from last year's Hurricane Ian, feared disastrous results.
Both Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced states of emergency, freeing up state resources and personnel, including hundreds of National Guard troops.
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