Hurricane Idalia slammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast Wednesday with high winds, torrential rain and heavy waves before weakening but directing its fury toward southeast Georgia, where flash flooding trapped some residents in their homes.
A few hours after Idalia made landfall as a powerful Category 3 hurricane in Keaton Beach, Florida’s Big Bend region, with winds of approximately 125 mph, authorities were still trying to assess the full extent of the damage in the most vulnerable areas.
Video footage and photographs from the region showed ocean waters rolling over highways and neighborhoods affected by extensive flooding at noon local time.
In a late afternoon news conference, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said there were no immediate reports of hurricane casualties and that it appears most residents in low-lying and vulnerable areas have heeded orders to leave those locations. and warnings about moving to higher ground.
DeSantis was speaking in Perry, a town about 35 kilometers north of where Idalia landed and which suffered some of the worst damage from the storm. There was no electricity throughout the community, all private facilities had been closed and many houses were left empty.
More than 75 people have been rescued from flooding in St. Petersburg, the city said on social media platform X. One video showed two rescuers in a small boat cruising around a flooded neighborhood in heavy rain.
In Valdosta, Georgia, about 80 miles (129km) northeast of Tallahassee, emergency boat crews were carrying out rescues for residents trapped in homes, according to the city’s Facebook page. No other details were immediately available.
Drawing its strength from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Idalia unleashed destructive winds and torrential rains that reportedly caused flooding up to 5 meters deep along Florida’s Gulf Coast.
By early Wednesday afternoon, Idalia’s eye had left Florida, DeSantis said. He added that parts of the state, especially in the north, are still affected by storms.
Florida’s Gulf Coast, southeastern Georgia, and eastern parts of North and South Carolina could see 4 to 8 inches of rain through Thursday, with isolated areas likely to see up to 12 inches of rain, he said. notified the US Hurricane Nationality Center (NHC).
Georgia authorities monitored the system when Idalia entered the state.
“Hopefully he’ll be out of the state by 8:00 p.m. tonight, maybe 10:00 p.m., and then we can start evaluating those who were affected first,” said the director of the state’s Emergency Management Agency. emergencies James C. Stallings in a briefing this week. Wednesday.
The storm’s most dangerous feature is a powerful surge of wind-driven waves that are expected to inundate low-lying areas, officials said.
By mid-morning, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration monitoring station in Steinatchee, 20 miles south of Keaton Beach, showed water reaching eight feet, well above the 6-foot flood level. Stations in the more densely populated Tampa area showed “mild flooding” at 10 a.m.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, two motorists were killed Wednesday morning in multiple rain-related crashes. In the afternoon press conference, DeSantis said he was aware of only “unconfirmed” reports of deaths caused by the storm.
Source: Terra
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