Hurricane Idalia unleashes fury on Florida and Georgia, swamping a wide stretch of coast

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press

Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday in Florida as a Category 3 storm and unleashed devastation along a wide stretch of the Gulf Coast, submerging homes and vehicles, turning streets into rivers, unmooring small boats and downing power lines before sweeping into Georgia.

Almost 438,000 customers in Florida and Georgia lost power while rushing water covered streets near the coast. As the eye moved inland, high winds shredded signs, sent sheet metal flying and snapped tall trees.

Idalia came ashore in the lightly populated Big Bend region, where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula. It made landfall near Keaton Beach at 7:45 a.m. as a high-end Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph.

As of midday Wednesday, there were no confirmed storm deaths in Florida, although fatal traffic accidents in two counties may end up being storm-related, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference.

A 59-year-old man driving a pickup truck in heavy rain veered off the road outside Gainesville. In Dade City, north of Tampa, a 40-year-old man lost control of his pickup and crashed into a tree, authorities said.

State officials, 5,500 National Guardsman and rescue crews were in search-and-recovery mode, inspecting bridges, clearing toppled trees and looking for anyone in distress in one of Florida’s most rural regions.

Because of the remoteness, search teams may need more time to complete their work compared with past hurricanes in more urban areas, said Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Department of Emergency Management.

“You may have two houses on a 5-mile road so it’s going to take some time,” Guthries said.

On the island of Cedar Key, downed trees and debris blocked roads, and propane tanks exploded.

RJ Wright stayed behind on Cedar Key so he could check on elderly neighbors. He hunkered down with friends in a motel and when it was safe, walked outside into chest-high water. It could have been a lot worse for the island, which juts into the Gulf, since it didn’t take a direct hit, he said.

“It got pretty gnarly for a while, but it was nothing compared to some of the other storms,” Wright said.

Storm surge could rise as high as 16 feet in some places. Some counties implemented curfews to keep residents off roads.

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. The state, still dealing with lingering damage from last year’s Hurricane Ian, feared disastrous results.

Idalia grew into a Category 2 system on Tuesday and then a Category 3 storm on Wednesday before peaking as a Category 4 hurricane. It then weakened slightly.

Officials in Bermuda warned that Idalia could hit the island early next week as a tropical storm. Bermuda on Wednesday was being lashed by the outer bands of Hurricane Franklin, a Category 2 storm that was on track to pass near the island in the north Atlantic Ocean.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday called DeSantis to let him know that federal support would be available to deal with any destruction from Idalia. The Republican governor and GOP presidential candidate indicated that the state’s needs were currently being met, said Deanne Criswell, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Associated Press writers Brendan Farrington, Mike Schneider, Marcia Dunn, Curt Anderson, Chris O’Meara, Cristiana Mesquita, Russ Bynum, Jeffrey Collins, Seth Borenstein, Kathy McCormack, Tara Copp, and Julie Walker contributed to this report.