Officials in Florida confirmed at least two people had died as a result of dangerous conditions from Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall Wednesday morning on Florida’s Gulf Coast as the Category 3 major hurricane, pummeling the Sunshine state with widespread flooding, “life threatening” storm surge and hurricane-force winds, with nearly 250,000 Florida homes and businesses without power.
Palm trees at Clearwater Harbor after Hurricane Idalia made landfall as a powerful Category 3 ... [+]
A 40-year-old man in Florida, whose name has not been publicly identified, died in Pasco County—which contains the city of Tampa—early Wednesday morning, after losing control of his vehicle while driving in the hurricane, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers said a 59-year-old man from Gainesville, Florida, was also killed on Wednesday after veering into a ditch and hitting a tree while driving, local ABC affiliate WCJR reported.
Videos and photos of the storm show widespread flooding and coastal damage from the storm, which inundated the runways at Tampa International Airport, caused roof damage in Perry, Florida, flooded a major highway and downed trees and ripped homes and storefronts apart along the Gulf Coast.
Nearly 268,000. That’s how many homes and businesses in Florida lacked power as of 11 a.m. Wednesday morning, just hours after Idalia made landfall, according to outage tracker poweroutage.us. Another 37,000 customers in Florida were also without power Wednesday morning.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said in a press conference ahead of Idalia’s landfall that more than 100,000 households that had lacked power had since been restored Wednesday morning. Roughly 25,000 workers and first responders had been mobilized in the state in preparation for the hurricane, the Tallahassee Democrat reported on Tuesday.
Residents in more than two dozen counties along the Florida Gulf Coast were issued mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders on Tuesday, as Idalia barreled toward the Sunshine State after making initial landfall in Cuba. Idalia was a stunning reminder of Hurricane Ian just 11 months ago, which took a remarkably similar path over the Gulf of Mexico, making landfall south of Tampa as a Category 4 hurricane and wreaking havoc along Florida’s shoreline, becoming Florida’s deadliest storm in nearly 90 years. Like Ian, Idalia strengthened as it approached the Florida Gulf Coast, making landfall in the state’s Big Bend Region, southeast of Tallahassee, carrying maximum sustained winds of 125 mph and bringing “catastrophic impacts,” including storm surge up to 16 feet and “life threatening winds,” according to the National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane Idalia Makes Landfall In Florida’s Big Bend As Category 3 Storm (Forbes)