Hurricane makes landfall, power outages in two states
Hurricane Idalia made landfall in northwestern Florida as an ‘extremely dangerous’ Category 3 storm.
It came onshore in the Big Bend area which is a relatively sparsely populated area.
However, there are widespread power outages and flooding.
The Steinhatchee River in Big Bend rose by seven feet in just an hour, the National Weather Service said.
Flooding was also seen in Tampa.
There are maximum sustained winds of around 105 mph with storm surge potentially of up to 16 feet.
Airports including Tampa International Airport, St. Pete-Clearwater Airport, Jacksonville, Sarasota Bradenton and Tallahassee were closed to all air traffic.
Hundreds of flights from and to Florida were cancelled.
Tampa International Airport says it hopes to reopen later today.
Fierce winds and rain battered Sarasota overnight leaving roads flooded. It was a similar situation in St Pete.
The National Hurricane Center says the storm has made its way into Southern Georgia.
About 40,000 homes are without power there .
So far, there was only one reported death as a consequence of Hurricane Idalia.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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