Lightning flashes as Tropical Storm Idalia forecast to hit Florida
Hurricane Idalia is gaining power as it crawls towards Florida’s Gulf Coast and is now forecast to reach Category 4 intensity by the time it makes landfall, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Idalia was generating maximum sustained winds of 110mph (177kph) by late Tuesday night – at the upper end of Category 2 – and its force will ratchet higher before it slams ashore.
By the time it makes landfall on Wednesday, the storm was forecast to reach “an extremely dangerous Category 4 intensity” – with maximum sustained winds of at least 130mph (209kph) – on the five-step Saffir-Simpson wind scale.
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.
“The property – we can rebuild someone’s home. You can’t unring the bell, though, if somebody stays in harm’s way and does battle with Mother Nature,” governor Ron DeSantis said.
Idalia’s most dangerous feature appeared to be the powerful surge of wind-driven seawater, up to 15 feet, that is expected to hit barrier islands and other low-lying areas along the coast.
