Hurricane Idalia makes landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast

Hurricane Idalia reached land before 8 a.m. Wednesday morning near Keaton Beach, Fla. Shortly before making landfall, Idalia was classified a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of up to 125 mph. The classification makes it the strongest storm in over a century to hit Florida’s Big Bend area, a lightly-populated area where the Florida Panhandle curves south to the peninsula. More than 200,000 Floridians were without power and more than 1,000 were staying in Red Cross shelters Wednesday morning. As of Thursday morning, officials had linked at least one death in Florida to the storm. Idalia is the third hurricane to reach landfall in Florida in the past 12 months. 

How long will Idalia last?  Idalia was expected to move northeast, bringing rain, wind, and storm surges to the Carolinas throughout Wednesday evening and into Thursday morning. Airlines are exercising extreme caution regarding flights in and out of Florida, with over 500 flights canceled and 200 more delayed. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster have both declared states of emergency preparing for the hurricane.

Dig deeper: Read Leigh Jones’ report in WORLD magazine about tallying the toll of Hurricane Ian.