Idalia continued to strengthen Tuesday as it intensified on a path toward Florida’s Gulf coast, with forecasters warning of an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and dangerous hurricane-force winds in the state.
Idalia's maximum sustained winds were up to 110 mph Tuesday evening as it moved north at 18 mph about 125 miles west of Tampa, according to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Forecasters said Idalia is expected to rapidly intensify, becoming an "extremely dangerous major hurricane" of Category 4 intensity as it approaches Florida.
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The center of Idalia was forecast to reach the Gulf coast of Florida within the hurricane warning area on Wednesday, and move close to the Carolina coastline on Thursday.
The center of Idalia will most likely hit a lightly populated area of the Gulf Coast known as the Big Bend before crossing the peninsula and drenching southern Georgia along with the Carolinas on Thursday, forecasters said.
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The National Weather Service in Tallahassee called Idalia “an unprecedented event” since no major hurricanes on record have ever passed through the bay abutting the Big Bend region.
"You still have time this morning to make your final preparations … but you gotta do that now," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday at the state’s emergency operations center.
Tolls have been waived on highways out of the danger area, shelters have opened, hotels are prepared to take evacuees and more than 30,000 utility workers are being staged to make repairs as quickly as possible in the hurricane's wake, DeSantis said.
"You do not have to leave the state. You don’t have to drive hundreds of miles. You have to get to higher ground in a safe structure. You can ride the storm out there, then go back to your home," DeSantis said.
Florida residents loaded up on sandbags and evacuated from homes in low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast to prepare for Idalia, which was expected to hit with potentially life-threatening storm surges.
In addition to hurricane and tropical storm watches and warnings that stretched up and down Florida's west coast from the Keys to the Panhandle, storm surge watches and warnings were also in effect.
"Catastrophic impacts from storm surge inundation of 10 to 15 feet above ground level and destructive waves are expected somewhere between Aucilla River and Yankeetown, Florida," the NHC said Tuesday. "Life-threatening storm surge inundation is likely elsewhere along portions of the Florida Gulf Coast where a storm surge warning is in effect."
As the state prepared, Idalia thrashed Cuba with heavy rain, especially in the westernmost part of the island, where the tobacco-producing province of Pinar del Rio is still recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian almost a year ago.
Authorities in the province issued a state of alert, and residents were evacuated to friends’ and relatives’ homes as authorities monitored the Cuyaguateje river for possible flooding. As much as 10 centimeters of rain fell in Cuba on Sunday, meteorological stations reported.
Idalia is expected to start affecting Florida with hurricane-force winds as soon as late Tuesday and arrive on the coast by Wednesday. It is the first storm to hit Florida this hurricane season and a potentially big blow to the state, which is also dealing with lingering damage from last year's Hurricane Ian.
Idalia is also the latest in a summer of natural disasters, including wildfires in Hawaii, Canada and Greece; the first tropical storm to hit California in 84 years, and devastating flooding in Vermont.
“Just got to prepare for these things, hope for the best, and prepare for the worst and, you know, hunker down, as they say,” said Derek Hughes as he waited to load up his car with sandbags at a city park in Tampa.
DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 49 counties, a broad swath that stretches across the northern half of the state from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic Coast. The state has mobilized 1,100 National Guard members, who have 2,400 high-water vehicles and 12 aircraft at their disposal for rescue and recovery efforts.
With a large stretch of Florida's western coast at risk for storm surges and floods, evacuation notices were issued in 22 counties, with mandatory orders for some people in eight of those counties. Many of the notices were for low-lying and coastal areas and for people living in mobile and manufactured homes, recreational vehicles or boats, and for people who would be vulnerable in a power outage.
Many school districts along the Gulf Coast were to be closed through at least Wednesday. Several colleges and universities also closed, including the University of Florida in Gainesville. Florida State University in Tallahassee said its campus would be closed through Friday.
Tampa International Airport and St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport said they would close on Tuesday, and the Sunrail commuter rail service in Orlando was being suspended.
DeSantis warned of a “major impact” to the state.
“The property — we can rebuild someone’s home,” DeSantis said during a news conference Monday. “You can’t unring the bell, though, if somebody stays in harm’s way and does battle with Mother Nature."
DeSantis said the Florida Department of Transportation would waive tolls on highways in the Tampa area and the Big Bend starting at 4 a.m. Tuesday to help ease any burden on people in the path of the storm.
As Gulf Coast residents packed up their cars or hauled out generators in case of power outages, state officials warned about potential fuel contamination at dozens of gas stations.
President Joe Biden spoke to DeSantis on Monday morning, telling the Florida governor that he had approved an emergency declaration for the state, the White House said in a news release. DeSantis is running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
Southwest Florida is still recovering from Hurricane Ian, which was responsible last year for almost 150 deaths. The Category 5 hurricane damaged 52,000 structures, nearly 20,000 of which were destroyed or severely damaged.
So far this year, the U.S. East Coast has been spared from cyclones. But in the West earlier this month, Tropical Storm Hilary caused widespread flooding, mudslides and road closures in Mexico, California, Nevada and points north.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently said the 2023 hurricane season would be far busier than initially forecast, partly because of extremely warm ocean temperatures. The season runs through Nov. 30, with August and September typically the peak.
