As Hurricane Idalia continues to barrel toward Florida’s Gulf Coast, the storm is expected to intensify, hitting the state at the strength of a Category 3 storm.
As of Tuesday at 8 a.m. EST, Idalia was moving at 14 mph, located a little over 300 miles south-southwest of Tampa, with maximum winds of at least 80 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Officials across the state have issued evacuation orders in at least 22 counties, more than 30 school districts have closed schools, and the Tampa International Airport has been shut down as Idalia is expected to make landfall on Wednesday.
Along with powerful winds and heavy rain, the storm is also bringing a life-threatening storm surge, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The center shared that “the deepest water … along the immediate coast in areas of onshore winds, where the surge will be accompanied by large and dangerous waves.”
Storm predictors have shared that Idalia is expected to make landfall well north of Tampa, though they noted that a small shift in its track could put the city at risk.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has mobilized more than 5,000 members of the state’s National Guard to assist with search and rescue efforts, should they be needed.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has also put its urban search and rescue teams on standby, and the Army Corps of Engineers is set to support power generation missions, according to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who spoke with CNN.
Criswell discussed the impending storm surge, which the National Hurricane Center says could force water to rise up to 12 feet in parts of northern Florida.
“The No. 1 killer in all of these storms is water, whether it’s the storm surge that’s going to happen at the coast or the excessive rainfall that might happen inland that causes urban flash flooding,” Criswell said.
Meteorologists have also warned that the hurricane may not be the only threat, as the storm could produce a few tornadoes on Tuesday along the west central Florida Coast.
“This is going to be a major hurricane,” DeSantis said at a Monday news conference.
On Sunday, DeSantis discussed preparing for the storm, sharing that residents should expect to be without power after the storm hits.
“If you are in the path of the storm, you should expect power outages, so please prepare for that,” DeSantis said Sunday.
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