Much of Florida was in disaster mode on Tuesday with only hours to go before an onslaught from Idalia, forecast to strengthen rapidly into 'an extremely dangerous major hurricane' before hitting the Gulf Coast on Wednesday.
Florida residents loaded up on sandbags and evacuated from homes in low-lying areas Tuesday, less than a day before Hurricane Idalia was expected to barrel into the state with the threat of flooding that could swamp the Gulf Coast.
At 11 a.m. EDT Tuesday, Idalia was about 275 miles south-southwest of Tampa, with maximum sustained winds of 85 m.p.h. , the National Hurricane Center said. It was moving north at 14 m.p.h . Idalia will be the first storm to hit Florida this hurricane season, but it is only the latest in a summer of natural disasters, including wildfires in Hawaii, Canada and Greece; the first tropical storm to hit California in 84 years, and devastating flooding in Vermont."It is my hope and prayer that you have your emergency plan in place, and you are executing that plan," Welch said at a news conference."Time is running short to make sure you are prepared for this storm.
With a large stretch of Florida's western coast at risk for storm surges and floods, evacuation notices were issued in 21 counties with mandatory orders for some people in eight of those counties. Many of the notices were for low-lying and coastal areas and for people living in mobile and manufactured homes, recreational vehicles or boats, and for people who would be vulnerable in a power outage.
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