Hurricane Idalia slammed into Florida as a fearsome Category 3 storm on Wednesday morning, ripping roofs off homes and leaving entire neighborhoods submerged before ravaging Georgia and forcing residents to seek shelter.
The historic storm’s assault began on Florida’s sparsely populated Big Bend region at 7:45 a.m., downing power lines, uprooting boats and dumping debris as water levels rose 9 feet in just two hours.
“All hell broke loose,” said Belond Thomas of Perry, Florida, the hardest-hit area.
Thomas and his family moved to a motel in the interior to weather the storm, but they didn’t venture far enough.
The roof of the building finally fell off, showering the huddled clan with rubble.
“It was terrifying,” he said. “Things were moving very fast. Everything was spinning.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, at least 500,000 residents remained without power in Florida and Georgia as maintenance crews raced across both states to repair the damage.
Damaged homes on Florida’s Horseshoe Beach from Hurricane Idalia on Aug. 30, 2023.Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire
A car driving through a flooded highway in Tampa.Photo by MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images
Idalia was downgraded to a tropical storm as it headed toward the coast near the Carolinas.NOAA
Satellite imagery shows Idalia returning to sea early Thursday morning.NOAA
Authorities said at least two people were killed in car crashes as the storm moved through north Florida, with winds of up to 125 mph creating havoc on highways.
A 59-year-old Gainesville man died after falling into a ditch and crashing into a tree line, highway patrol officials said.
In Pasco County, a 40-year-old man drove his pickup truck “too fast for conditions” and lost control due to “inclement weather,” authorities said.
A tree felled by the storm in Tallahassee. AP Photo/Phil Sears
A boat came ashore in the town of Jena, near Keaton Beach.CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
A man walks through the water in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Wednesday night.AP
“Don’t put your life at risk by doing something foolish right now,” Gov. Ron DeSantis warned at a news conference Wednesday morning. “This thing is powerful. If you’re inside, duck until it passes you.”
DeSantis said he had activated 5,500 National Guard troops and 30,000 utility workers ahead of Idalia’s potentially “catastrophic” landfall.
‘Trying to swallow us’
Cedar Key Island resident Michael Bobbitt told the BBC on Wednesday morning that Idalia, the largest hurricane to hit the area in more than a century, had engulfed much of his town’s commercial center.
“Our entire downtown area is under water,” he said. “Part of an entire hotel just broke off and fell into the Gulf. It’s like the Gulf is trying to swallow us.”
A man sweeping flood water from a store in Crystal River.Getty Images
A car plunged into floodwaters in North Myrtle Beach on Wednesday.AP
The system also disrupted the travel plans of thousands of travelers as airports closed before the hurricane hit, leading to mass cancellations in Florida and Georgia.
Idalia weakened before hitting Florida’s capital, Tallahassee, but still managed to knock out power to thousands of people.
DeSantis said his wife, First Lady Casey Desantis, called him as the storm raged to inform him that a large oak tree snapped in half and crashed into the governor’s mansion during the deluge.
“Mason, Madison, Mamie and I were home at the time but luckily no one was hurt,” she wrote on X along with a photo of the cut down tree.
A house is destroyed after Idalia wreaked destruction in Keaton Beach, Florida, on Wednesday.AP
Governor Ron DeSantis speaking at a press conference in Perry after Idalia hit Florida.CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
President Biden, who partly attributed the storm to worsening weather conditions, said he had spoken with DeSantis and promised to provide him with “everything he might need.”
The governor said there were reports of looting in Steinhatchie, Taylor County, and warned would-be thieves that local gun owners would quickly exercise their Second Amendment rights.
Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said search and rescue squads were responding to trapped residents in the hardest-hit areas, but did not expect mass casualties.
“They are 100% fine,” he said. “We’re going to get to those people as quickly as we can send our emergency access teams to them.”
A flooded neighborhood near Keaton Beach. AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
A man walks through the floodwaters near his house in Jena.CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Degraded to tropical storm
After reaching Tallahassee, Idalia exited the Sunshine State and entered Georgia as a weakened Category 1 hurricane, battering the southern part of the state with strong winds and rain.
The system eventually weakened to a 70 mph tropical storm early Wednesday afternoon, according to an advisory from the National Hurricane Center.
A boy paddling on a flooded street in St. Pete Beach.Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times via AP
Officials warned that Idalia could still cause storm surge in Georgia and the Carolinas through Thursday.
As parts of the Sunshine State were still battling the deadly impact of Hurricane Ian, Florida officials worried that Idalia could plunge other areas into prolonged chaos.
But DeSantis said Wednesday night that the system’s impact could have been much worse.
“The storm moved a little faster than some of the others,” he said. “Some of these things just spew water when they go that slow. This one was a bit faster. When you talk about flooding, it’s a little better when it’s slow.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has warned that unusually high ocean temperatures could lead to a much more severe hurricane season in 2023 than originally predicted.
Additional reporting by Isabel Keane
With pole cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn