U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration was preparing to help Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration to deal with Hurricane Idalia’s damage.
Deanne Criswell, the administrator of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, warned on Tuesday against “unpreparedness” in coastal areas where the storm surge will be deadly.
“This storm will be deadly if we don’t get out of harm’s way and take it seriously,” Criswell said.
The hurricane is set to make landfall on Wednesday morning as a Category 3 system with sustained winds of up to 120 mph.
“This storm is very strong and is expected to strengthen to a major hurricane by the time it makes landfall due to high surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico,” Criswell said.
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Jeremy Greenberg, the director of the operations division in FEMA’s response directorate, said residents in coastal areas need to listen to local officials on evacuations. in some areas – voluntarily in others, we just encourage everyone they are monitoring the guidance of local officials”
The National Hurricane Center forecasted catastrophic storm surge in the island city of Cedar Key, and the coastal communities of Suwannee, and Steinhatchee.
“This is one of the highest risk parts of a hurricane and it’s especially problematic along the west coast of Florida due to the underwater geography,” Criswell said later adding, “Very few people can survive being in the path of major storm surge.”
The catastrophic storm surge could reach 10 to 15 feet in some areas and there may be up to 7 feet of storm surge flooding as far south as Tampa Bay.
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Coastal hurricane warnings extend westward to near Cape San Blas, west of Apalachicola, with inland hurricane warnings in place as far west as Wakulla and Leon counties.
Since high winds may also cause widespread power outages inland, most supermarkets already had some empty shelves, as residents stored bottled water and non-perishable food.
There were long lines of cars stretched out of gas stations with drivers eager to fill up their tanks in anticipation of possible shortages in Florida.
Heavy rainfall is also a threat in central and north Florida.
The rainfall forecast through Thursday morning varies from 6 to 12 inches in the path of the hurricane and an inch to 3 in Florida’s east coast.
Quick facts
- Category 3 hurricane is forecast to make landfall with sustained winds of up to 120 mph on Wednesday morning in the Big Bend region of Florida.
- Storm surges could be as high as 15 feet
- The rare blue supermoon will cause higher-than-normal tides on Wednesday.
- There were evacuation notices issued in 22 counties in Florida, including the mandatory evacuations in eight counties
- Florida is waiving tolls on highways
- More than 30,000 utility workers on standby
- The National Guard activated 5,500 troops
- More than 10,000 people evacuated in Cuba
- University of Florida in Gainesville and Florida State University in Tallahassee will close
- The hurricane season runs through Nov. 30