Hurricane Idalia makes landfall lashing Florida with ‘destructive’ 125mph winds and ‘catastrophic 7ft storm surge’
HURRICANE Idalia has made landfall in Florida with homes left submerged in water and without power.
The National Hurricane Center warned the Category 3 storm, which now moved up to a Category 4 hurricane, would bring destructive winds and catastrophic storm surges to the state.
The Center confirmed the storm made landfall in the Florida Big Bend at 7:45am and has categorized it as a Category 3 Hurricane.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has warned residents to hunker down as the state braces for Idalia’s wrath.
The hurricane had been upgraded to a Category 4 storm earlier on Wednesday after 130 mph winds were reported.
DeSantis said: “If you’re inside, just hunker down until it gets past ya.
“Don’t mess with this storm. Don’t do anything that’s going to put yourself in jeopardy.”
He added: “We are ready to go,” as he urged Americans to stay safe and not do anything “dumb.”
DeSantis warned there was a “need for all hands to be on deck.”
The governor’s warning came after National Weather Service officials in Tallahassee branded Idalia an “unprecedented event.”
Storm surges could be as high as 16 feet with footage already being posted online of huge waves battering homes.
One person posted a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, of a storm surge on Horseshoe Beach.
The video shows the catastrophic event as huge waves roll past an isolated house and submerge the camera.
Meanwhile, other Floridians are posting pictures of road closures and shocking images of the damage already caused by the hurricane.
One Twitter user posted a photograph of their childhood home taken from a security camera.
The post read: “Hudson, on the Gulf. My childhood home. Cameras went out at 7:08am this morning and this was the last pic.”
The home can be seen surrounded by water with its residents left to worry about what will greet them after the hurricane took out their camera.
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