Florida residents living in vulnerable coastal areas were ordered to pack up and leave Tuesday as Hurricane Idalia gained steam in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and threatened to unleash life-threatening storm surges and rainfall.
Idalia also pummeled Cuba with heavy rains on Monday and Tuesday, leaving the tobacco-growing province of Pinar del Rio underwater and many of its residents without power.
Idalia strengthened to a Category 2 system on Tuesday afternoon with winds of 155 kph (100 mph). The hurricane was projected to come ashore early Wednesday as a Category 3 system with sustained winds of up to 193 kph (120 mph) in the lightly populated Big Bend region, where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula. The result could be a big blow to a state still dealing with lingering damage from last year's Hurricane Ian.
The National Weather Service in Tallahassee called Idalia "an unprecedented event" because no major hurricanes on record have ever passed through the bay abutting the Big Bend.
'You really gotta go now'
On the island of Cedar Key, Commissioner Sue Colson joined other city officials in packing up documents and electronics at City Hall. She had a message for the almost 900 residents who were under mandatory orders to evacuate. More than a dozen state troopers went door to door warning residents that the storm surge could rise as high as 4.5 meters (15 feet).
"One word: Leave," Colson said. "It's not something to discuss."
Governor Ron DeSantis repeated the warning at an afternoon news conference.
"You really gotta go now. Now is the time," he said. Earlier, the governor stressed that residents didn't necessarily need to leave the state but should "get to higher ground in a safe structure."
"You can ride the storm out there, then go back to your home," he said.
Not everyone was heeding the warning.
Andy Bair, owner of the Island Hotel, said he intended to stay at his bed-and-breakfast, which predates the Civil War. The building has not flooded in the nearly 20 years he has owned it, not even when Hurricane Hermine flooded the city in 2016.
"Being a caretaker of the oldest building in Cedar Key, I just feel kind of like I need to be here," Bair said. "We've proven time and again that we're not going to wash away. We may be a little uncomfortable for a couple of days, but we'll be OK eventually."
Tolls were waived on highways out of the danger area, shelters were open, and hotels prepared to take in evacuees. More than 30,000 utility workers were gathering to make repairs as quickly as possible in the hurricane's wake. About 5,500 National Guard troops were activated.
Idalia's initial squalls were being felt in the Florida Keys and the southwestern coast of Florida on Tuesday afternoon, including at Clearwater Beach. Workers at beachside bars and T-shirt shops boarded up windows, children skim-surfed the waves, and hundreds of people watched the increasingly choppy waters from the safety of the sand.
After landing in the Big Bend region, Idalia is forecast to cross the Florida peninsula and then drench southern Georgia and the Carolinas on Thursday. Both Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster announced states of emergency, freeing up state resources and personnel, including hundreds of National Guard troops.
"We'll be prepared to the best of our abilities," said Russell Guess, who was topping off the gas tank on his truck in Valdosta, Georgia. His co-workers at Cunningham Tree Service were doing the same. "There will be trees on people's house, trees across power lines."
Power goes out in Cuba
In Cuba, meanwhile, Idalia left more than 60% of Pinar del Rio's residents in the dark, Cuban state media reported.
"The priority is to reestablish power and communications and keep an eye on the agriculture: Harvest whatever can be harvested and prepare for more rainfall," President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a meeting with government officials Tuesday.
More than 10,000 people had been evacuated to shelters or stayed with friends and relatives as up to 10 centimeters (4 inches) of rain fell. More than half of the province was without electricity.
Cuban state media did not report any deaths or major damage.
Idalia will be the first storm to hit Florida this hurricane season, but it's 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 flooding in Vermont.
With a large stretch of Florida's western coast at risk for storm surges and floods, evacuation notices were issued in 22 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.
Asked about the hurricane as he sat down for a meeting with Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves in the Oval Office on Tuesday, President Joe Biden said he had spoken to DeSantis and "provided him with everything that he possibly needs."
