Hurricane Idalia to make landfall with once-in-a-lifetime strength: ‘Don’t mess with this one’
Hurricane Idalia is on track to hit Florida as a Category 3 storm with unprecedented strength, officials said on Tuesday.
Idalia is currently moving slowly through the Gulf of Mexico. It is expected to make landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region of the Gulf Coast around 8.00am on Wednesday morning.
The National Weather Service (NWS) is warning of destructive winds, up to 7 inches of heavy rainfall, and devastating flash and urban floods.
‘Catastrophic’ storm surges are also likely in a large portion of the Gulf Coast, able to produce floods between 10 – 15 feet high.
Idalia began moving north through the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm on Monday. By Tuesday afternoon, it had officially been classified as a Category 1 hurricane, able to sustain winds speeds of 74-95 miles per hour.
It is expected to gain more strength over Tuesday night as it moves over the warm waters of the Gulf. It is currently expected to become a Category 3 storm by the time it makes landfall, able to sustain winds speeds of 111-129 miles per hour.
‘This is going to be a powerful hurricane and this is absolutely going to impact the state of Florida,’ Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on Monday.
The NWS station in Tallahassee, Florida said that if the storm could be the first in at least 172 years to directly hit Florida’s Big Bend region.
‘Looking back through recorded history, NO major hurricanes have ever moved through the Apalachee Bay,’ the forecasters said. ‘When you try to compare this storm to others, DON’T. No one has seen this.’
They are also warning locals to evacuate if given the order. ‘Don’t mess with this one,’ the NWS warned.
Hurricane advisories were put in place on Monday for 49 of Florida’s 67 counties. Evacuations have been extended to low-lying parts of 22 counties.
All of the roughly 900 residents of Cedar Key, an island off the coast of Levy County, were ordered to evacuate on Monday.
Cedar Key Commissioner Sue Colson had a very brief message for residents of the island. ‘One word: Leave,’ Colson said. ‘It’s not something to discuss.’
However, Governor Ron DeSantis has also expanded evacuation orders to inland parts of the state, including St John’s County – directly south of the major city of Jacksonville.
‘This storm is going to impact inland counties, and particularly in northern Florida, you are going to see significant impacts,’ DeSantis said.
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