Hurricane Idalia slams ashore at Florida's Big Bend
By Maria Alejandra Cardona and Marco Bello
STEINHATCHEE, Florida (Reuters) -Hurricane Idalia plowed into Florida's Big Bend region on Wednesday as an «extremely dangerous» Category 3 storm that forced millions of residents to evacuate or hunker down in anticipation of a life-threatening surge of tidal waters.
Drawing strength from the Gulf of Mexico's warm waters, Idalia unleashed destructive winds and torrential downpours that were forecast to cause coastal flooding up to 16 feet (5 m) deep along the state's Gulf Coast.
Idalia came ashore at 7:45 a.m. EDT (1145 GMT) at Keaton Beach, an ocean-front community of 13,000 people in Taylor County about 75 miles (121 km) southeast of Tallahassee, the state capital. The town lies in the center of the Big Bend region, where the state's northern panhandle curves into the Florida Peninsula.
«It's just ripping through Taylor County now. Hope all is safe,» County Commissioner Jamie English told Reuters. «Winds gusting. Terrible power outages all over. Debris flying everywhere.»
There were few early reports of flooding available. By midmorning, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather monitoring station in Steinhatchee, 20 miles south of Keaton, showed waters reaching 8 feet, well above the 6-foot flood stage. Other monitoring stations to the south in the more densely populated Tampa area showed waters levels at a «minor flooding» stage at 10 a.m. EST.
All night, howling winds and seemingly endless sheets of rain pelted the house of Mark Feinman's in-laws in St. Petersburg, where he evacuated with nine other people and two cats, heeding the evacuation orders to get to higher ground.
Feinman, 37, a professional drummer and songwriter, said early Wednesday morning
Read more on investing.com
