Florida prepares for Tropical Storm Idalia, expected to intensify into a hurricane.
Florida Braces for Impending Hurricane Idalia
As of nightfall on Aug. 28, more than 5,500 Florida National Guardsmen have been activated, 20,000 linemen from dozens of states are headed south or on-call, search-and-rescue teams have assembled, and evacuations underway in 15 Gulf Coast counties.
Navy ships have been sent to sea, classes in 38 school districts and 16 universities have been canceled, and airports, businesses, and homes are being shored-up and shuttered.
All that remains is the all-too-familiar wait for 600,000 Floridians warily watching a rapidly intensifying tropical system that wasn’t on any radars three days ago. It is rocketing its way north for a projected Gulf coast landfall between Tampa and Tallahassee in less than 36 hours as a “nasty” Category 3 hurricane.
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“It’s definitely coming. It’s going to be a major hurricane. It is going to impact the state of Florida, so please take the proper precautions,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a 6 p.m. update in the state’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Tallahassee.
According to Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie, the 5 p.m. National Hurricane Center update placed Tropical Storm Idalia about 35 miles southwest of the western tip of Cuba, with maximum sustained winds near 70 miles an hour extending 150 miles from its core.
He said the center of Idalia’s eye “is forecast to pass over Cuba tonight, and then reach Category 3 hurricane strength throughout Tuesday into Wednesday morning,” when it will crash ashore, forecasters say, someplace along the Big Bend region of Florida’s Gulf coast.
Don’t Underestimate the Storm Surge
Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Guthrie emphasized that communities along the Gulf Coast from Tampa to the Panhandle do not need to be in the storm’s path or “cone of uncertainty” to be dramatically affected by its storm surge.
While the updated projection has the system “wobbling” slightly to the west, that doesn’t mean storm surge won’t endanger coastal communities, Mr. Guthrie said, noting the latest modeling actually increases forecasted storm surges “by about a foot, so we’re looking at 4-to-7 feet in some areas, 8 -to-10 feet in others,” and even higher surges elsewhere.
“We are going to see portions of the Gulf Coast that will experience a 12-foot storm surge,” he said. “We also expect heavy rainfall, 4-to-8 inches, with maximum amounts in some areas of as much as 12 inches” with flooding predicted in north-central Florida’s Suwannee River Valley.
Mr. Guthrie said Floridians in the storm’s path must prepare for “isolated storm-generated tornadoes” and “locally damaging wind gusts” to move across the Florida peninsula by midday Aug. 29.
He warned that those who head east from low-lying Gulf coastal areas will avoid the storm surge but not the storm’s rage.
“If you’re moving into inland Florida, you’re going to be the right front portion of that hurricane—that’s what they call the ‘dirty side’ of the storm,” Mr. Guthrie said. “You’re going to experience problems again. You’re going to experience power outages, so please be prepared for those power outages.”
Time Is of the Essence
Mr. DeSantis has declared states of emergency in 46 of Florida’s 67 counties and closed toll booths on state turnpikes in central and north Florida. President Joe Biden declared the 46-county swath to be in a federal state of emergency several hours after the governor left Largo for his 6 p.m. update at the EOC in Tallahassee.
Mr. DeSantis said the state has issued evacuation orders for low-lying areas in Baker, Citrus, Franklin, Fernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Levy, Manatee, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, Taylor, Union, and Volusia counties.
He said a dozen shelters across 13 coastal counties have opened with 11 more set to open tomorrow.
“That’s a place you can go,” the governor said. “You can be safe there, or go to a friend’s house, a family’s house. You can go to hotels and do that. But you do not need to get on the road and try to drive hundreds of miles to get out of any impacts of the storm. That will not be advisable and it’s not necessary. You don’t need to leave the state. You don’t need to drive hundreds of miles. You don’t have to try to outrun the storm.”
Mr. DeSantis cautioned that time is now of the essence for those in the projected path of the storm.
“Clearly, you have time today and, probably, for the better part of tomorrow” to finish preparing for the storm or evacuate inland to higher ground, he said, but waned time is running out with each passing minute, he said. “You are going to start seeing some impacts with winds and some nasty weather Tuesday night and, of course, we’re expecting a landfall to happen sometime on Wednesday.
He said he has activated “the full 5,500 National Guardsmen available” who “have access to a lot of different assets, both on the ground and in the air.” They have also deployed 247 Starlink internet devices.
“We have another 529 Starlinks in central Florida ready to be deployed to impact areas as the need may arise,” he added.
The governor said the Florida Chamber of Commerce is “coordinating resources and they’re having regular calls with private sector partners to make sure that they are prepared. Unfortunately, for a lot of our companies, this isn’t their first rodeo, so they’re ready.”
“More than 20,000 linemen” are ready to respond as part of mutual aid pacts with “more on the way throughout the balance of today and tomorrow,” he noted. “This will be an important effort to get power back on very quickly.”
He said the Florida Division of Emergency Management had received more than 300 requests from cities and counties for mutual aid resources just between noon and 6 p.m. on Aug. 28.
Despite all that, he said, power is going to be knocked out wherever the storm hits.
“I would prepare to be without power. This thing comes in as a Category 3, it’s going to knock over trees, it’s going to knock over power lines. It’s going to cause an interruption in service. So just be prepared for that,” the governor said.
Memories Of Michael, Ian
So, the stage is set—or soon will be—and as ready as it can be for Idalia in whatever form it crashes ashore.
“Obviously, we understand how important it is by staging as many people as we do” to be ready to respond in the storm’s wake,” Mr. DeSantis said. “I have no doubt those folks will get to work immediately once the storm has passed and do a great job restoring [power] but there is not likely a situation where you’re not going to lose power at all if you are in the path of this storm.”
The governor also said the state has bunkered more than 400,000 gallons of fuel “and is ready to deploy any additional assets that are expected over the next few days,” especially for Gulf Coast gas stations.
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