Hurricane Idalia death toll rises to two as record-breaking storm surge causes widespread damage: Live updates - The Independent

Hurricane Idalia death toll rises as record-breaking storm surge causes widespread damage: Live updates | The Independent

Hurricane Idalia death toll rises to two as record-breaking storm surge causes widespread damage: Live updates

Hurricane Idalia made landfall at Keaton Beach, Florida on Wednesday morning before charting path inland and downgrading to Category 2

Louise Boyle,

Stuti Mishra,

Rachel Sharp,
Oliver O'Connell Comments

Hurricane Idalia has made landfall in Florida, hitting the Big Bend region as a “life-threatening” Category 3 storm before downgrading to a Category 2 as it heads across land toward Georgia.

The National Hurricane Center announced at 7.45am that the “extremely dangerous Category 3” storm had made landfall, bringing maximum sustained winds of 125 mph and catastrophic storm surge to the Sunshine State.

In an early morning press conference, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had warned: “Don’t mess with this storm. Don’t do anything that will put yourself in jeopardy.” The briefing itself was hit with a brief power outage as the storm had already plunged thousands of homes into darkness.

Idalia has already forced mass evacuations in low-lying areas and the state activated 55,000 national guardsmen and 25,000 electric linemen ahead of the hurricane’s arrival.

Some 275,000 customers were without power at lunchtime on Wednesday. Two deaths in separate car crashes were reported by Florida High Patrol.

A terrifying forecast model has also shown that Hurricane Idalia could hit the state of Florida twice over the coming week.
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Watch: Sailboats slam into bridge after breaking free from moorings

Documentarian Jonathan Petramala recorded dramatic footage of sailboats slamming into a bridge over the Steinhatchee River after the storm surtge reversed its course and broke the vessels free from their moorings. They lost their masts when they hit the bridge.
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Florida governor’s mansion oak tree split in half by Hurricane Idalia

A 100-year-old oak tree at the Florida Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee was split in half during Hurricane Idalia.

First Lady Casey DeSantis tweeted a picture of the huge tree partially fallen on the building. She confirms that she was home with her Ron DeSantis’s three children at the time and says thankfully no one was injured.

She offers prayers to everyone impacted by the storm.
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Beach Boulevard S, Gulfport, Florida: Before and after storm surge

3198 Beach Blvd S, Gulfport, Florida

The same view of Beach Blvd S, Gulfport, Florida, after the storm surge from Hurricane Idalia hit on 30 August 2023
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Tampa International Airport to reopen at 4pm ET
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Watch: NBC reporter says Hurricane Idalia gust lifted him and camera off ground as he records dramatic footage of wind damage
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Cedar Key Fire Rescue appeal for patience in aftermath of Hurricane Idalia’s storm surge
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Hurricanes are getting stronger. Here’s why

As the global average temperature increases, largely due to the carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels, the ocean is taking a major hit.

The ocean has absorbed 90 per cent of warming in recent decades and all that extra heat is driving historically high water temperatures.

Warmer waters supercharge tropical cyclones with more heavy rainfall and storm surge as they come ashore.

While the frequency of hurricanes of tropical storms is not increasing, the chance that they become stronger, more destructive systems has increased by about 8 per cent per decade in the past 40 years, according to climate scientists.

The proportion of Category 4 and 5 tropical cyclones is projected to increase around the world in the coming decades due to human-caused warming, according to the latest report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from 1 June to 30 November, is forecast to be above average this year.
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Watch: Palm tree snaps in half as eye of Idalia hits Perry, Florida
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Travel chaos across the US with hundreds of flights cancelled due to hurricane

Hurricane Idalia has impacted flight travel across the nation with several airports have been closed and hundreds of flights cancelled or delayed as the storm made landfall in Florida on Wednesday.

Some Florida airports — Tampa, St. Pete-Clearwater, Sarasota and Tallahassee — were closed for the day “in preparation for Hurricane the Federal Aviation Authority wrote on X. Airports in Gainesville and Boca Raton are also closed, while Miami’s airport is experiencing a ground stop.

Kelly Rissman is tracking the latest information.

Hurricane Idalia creates travel chaos across the US as hundreds of flights cancelled

As of Wednesday morning, the US was experiencing 907 cancelled flights
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Two deaths from car crashes attributed to extreme weather conditions

Two men have died in separate rain-related crashes early on Wednesday morning as Hurricane Idalia approached landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast, Fox 35 reports.

Florida Highway Patrol said the first incident happened just before 6am on SR-20, just east of SE 60th Terrace in Gainesville.

A 59-year-old man from Gainesville, who was driving a Toyota pickup truck in “extremely rainy conditions”, was travelling westbound when it swerved into a ditch on the north side of SR-20. The truck continued through the ditch and crashed into a nearby tree line.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene when Alachua County Fire Rescue arrived.

The second incident happened at 6.15am on St Joe Road in Pasco County. A 40-year-old man from Spring Hill was driving a pickup truck “too fast for conditions” and lost control. His truck then left the roadway and collided with a tree.

He died from his injuries at the scene of the crash.