CEDAR KEY, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday in Florida as a Category 3 storm and unleashed devastation along a wide stretch of the Gulf Coast, submerging homes and vehicles, turning streets into rivers, unmooring small boats and downing power lines in an area that has never before received such a pummeling.
A woman surveys the flooding on Bayshore Blvd., along Old Tampa Bay after winds from Hurricane Idalia pushed water over the sea wall Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. Idalia made landfall earlier this morning along the Big Bend of the state. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)Water from the Hillsborough River rises onto Plant park at University of Tampa in downtown as Hurricane Idalia approaches the Big Bend region on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (Ivy Ceballo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)Ken Kruse looks out at the flood waters from Hurricane Idalia surrounding his apartment complex on August 30, 2023 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Hurricane Idalia is hitting the Big Bend area of Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)In an aerial view, a fire is seen as flood waters inundate the downtown area after Hurricane Idalia passed offshore on August 30, 2023 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Hurricane Idalia is hitting the Big Bend area of Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)Flood waters pushed by Hurricane Idalia pour over the sea wall along Old Tampa Bay as paddle boarder Zeke Pierce, of Tampa, rides Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)Lily Gumos, 11, of St. Pete Beach, kayaks with her French bulldog along Blind Pass Road and 86th Avenue Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023 in St. Pete Beach, Fla. Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday in Florida as a Category 3 storm and unleashed devastation along a wide stretch of the Gulf Coast, submerging homes and vehicles, turning streets into rivers, unmooring small boats and downing power lines in an area that has never before received such a pummeling. (Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times via AP)AUGUST 30: A truck passes through flooded streets caused by Hurricane Idalia passing offshore on August 30, 2023 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Hurricane Idalia is hitting the Big Bend area of Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)A City of Tallahassee electrical worker assesses damage to power lines after a tree fell on Old St. Augustine, a canopy road, in Tallahassee, Fla., as Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Phil Sears)A mailbox stands on Hibiscus Avenue South stands in floodwaters as Hurricane Idalia makes landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida’s Gulf Coast, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in Pasadena, Fla. (Martha Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times via AP)Shore Boulevard in front of O’Maddy’s Bar & Grille is seen in floodwaters as Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in Gulfport, Fla. (Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times via AP)People kayak past an abandon vehicle in the intersection of Boca Ciega Drive and Pasadena Avenue Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023 in St. Pete Beach, Fla., Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday in Florida as a Category 3 storm and unleashed devastation along a wide stretch of the Gulf Coast, submerging homes and vehicles, turning streets into rivers, unmooring small boats and downing power lines in an area that has never before received such a pummeling. (Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times via AP)Members of the Tampa Fire Rescue Dept., remove a street pole after large awnings from an apartment building blew off from winds associated with Hurricane Idalia Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. Idalia made landfall earlier this morning along the Big Bend of the state. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)Makatla Ritchter wades through flood waters after having to evacuate her home when the flood waters from Hurricane Idalia inundated it on August 30, 2023 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Hurricane Idalia is hitting the Big Bend area on the Gulf Coast of Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)TARPON SPRINGS, FLORIDA – AUGUST 30: Steve Odom stands on the porch of his home that is surrounded by flood waters caused by Hurricane Idalia passing offshore on August 30, 2023 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Hurricane Idalia is hitting the Big Bend area on the Gulf Coast of Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
More than 263,000 customers were without electricity as rushing water covered streets near the coast. As the eye moved inland, destructive winds shredded signs, sent sheet metal flying and snapped tall trees. Downed power lines closed northbound Interstate 75 just south of Valdosta, Georgia.
“We have multiple trees down, debris in the roads, do not come,” posted the fire and rescue department in Cedar Key, where a tide gauge measured the storm surge at 6.8 feet (2 meters), submerging most of hte downtown. “We have propane tanks blowing up all over the island.”
Idalia came ashore in the lightly populated Big Bend region, where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula. It made landfall near Keaton Beach at 7:45 a.m. as a high-end Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph (205 kph).
It remained a hurricane as it crossed into Georgia, with top winds of 90 mph (150 mph) at 11 a.m., after drenching Florida mostly to the east of Tallahassee. Forecasters said it would punish the Carolinas overnight as a tropical storm. Some models predicted Idalia could circle southward toward land again after that, but the National Hurricane Center forecast it to move deeper into the Atlantic this weekend.
Astounded by the flooding that turned Tampa’s Bayshore Boulevard into a river, Bill Hall watched a paddleboarder ride along the major thoroughfare.
“This is actually unbelievable,” Hall said. “I haven’t seen anything like this in years.”
In Tallahassee, Florida’s capital city, the power went out well before the center of the storm arrived.
Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey urged everyone to shelter in place — it was too late to risk going outside. Florida residents living in vulnerable coastal areas had been ordered to pack up and leave as Idalia gained strength in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
“Don’t put your life at risk by doing anything dumb at this point,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Wednesday morning. “This thing’s powerful. If you’re inside, just hunker down until it gets past you.”
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