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PERRY, Fla. − Idalia, a raging monster of a hurricane when it slammed across Florida, has retreated to post-tropical cyclone status Thursday afternoon and is headed out to sea.
One death in Florida was related to the storm, officials said Thursday afternoon. The death occurred in Alachua County, located in the north-central portion of the state.
Also Thursday, President Joe Biden announced he will travel to Florida over the weekend to tour the damaged areas. It is unclear if Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for the Republican nomination for the presidency, will meet with Biden.
As of late afternoon, the storm’s center was about 165 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, according to the National Hurricane Center. Idalia was still driving sustained winds of 65 mph and was expected to continue heading out into the Atlantic. It was forecast to impact Bermuda over the weekend.
Cleanup was in full swing in Florida, where the fast-moving storm made landfall Wednesday in Taylor County along Florida’s Big Bend. A Category 3 hurricane with 125-mph winds when it hit, Idalia left behind battered homes and flood-damaged vehicles.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in Perry,” said Sheila Houston, 57. “And I hope we don’t ever again.”
DeSantis said at a briefing Thursday that at least 40 successful rescues took place, most by the National Guard. Tens of thousands of linemen were at work restoring power where across the region. DeSantis said he expected to visit the area later in the day.
“There has been significant damage, particularly along Florida’s Big Bend, but the community is resilient and we are going to work hard to make sure people get what they need,” DeSantis said.
Gradual weakening of Idalia was expected, but the storm remained capable of destruction. Tropical storm warnings and storm surge watches were in effect along much of coastal North Carolina, where Gov. Roy Cooper had declared a statewide state of emergency before the storm rolled in.
“We expect winds, rain and flooding to continue to impact our state even into Saturday,” Cooper said.
Idalia downgraded to tropical storm:Georgia, Carolinas, Florida inundated
Developments:
∎ In South Carolina, the heavy rains, strong winds and high tide conspired to send water racing through the streets of Charleston.
∎ In Georgia, Valdosta and Lowndes County suffered “significant” damage, the city said in a statement. Many roads are impassable because of flooding, debris or power lines in the roadway. “The recovery efforts are underway, but the damage is vast.”
Idalia text message updates:Sign up to receive updates on Hurricane Idalia and its aftermath from journalists across the USA TODAY network
DeSantis to tour destruction with FEMA leader
DeSantis and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said they will tour Taylor and Levy counties Thursday to get a firsthand look at the damage left behind by Hurricane Idalia. Idalia came ashore Wednesday with 130-mph winds that tore roofs from homes, downed power lines and flooded roads with rain and surging storm water. DeSantis has requested a major federal disaster declaration for all 25 counties that fell under the hurricane warning. The federal assistance would provide money to begin debris removal and for individual assistance. Criswell pledged to process the requests as quickly as possible.
“We are going to make sure that we always have the resources here from the federal family to support the current efforts but also the ongoing recovery efforts that may be needed in these communities,” Criswell said. Read more here.
− James Call, Tallahassee Democrat
Swamped in Crystal River
David and Mary Kate Norrie’s vacation home in Crystal River filled up with 2 feet of smelly floodwater and soggy leaves after Hurricane Idalia struck, forcing him to bail out his recessed living room Thursday using a sump pump.
“All the kitchen cabinets got wet, so they’re starting to fall apart. All the doors are ruined. The baseboard’s all ruined. Dishwasher’s ruined,” David Norrie said, rattling off an cursory list of damages.
“Washer and dryer got water in the motors – they’ll be ruined,” he said.
Now, the Dunnellon couple plans to demolish their waterlogged house near Hunter Springs Park and build a new one at the site atop stilts – “we’re unfortunately the lowest house on the street,” David said.
Worsening matters, they no longer have flood insurance. He said his former carrier dropped their policy in April, so their annual cost would have jumped from $2,200 per year to at least $5,800 with a $5,000 deductible.
“That’s just crazy,” he said.
“One storm, and you’re $11,000 in it. If you don’t have a flood for three years, you technically have $30,000 sitting in the kitty to fix it,” he said.
But unfortunately, he said only a few months passed before Idalia walloped Crystal River. He estimated his home’s potential storm-related damages at $60,000 to $70,000.
“It’s disheartening to go in there and see the place like that. Leaves everywhere inside. Just pretty much destroyed inside. But you’ve just got to muscle through it. Clean it up,” he said.
– Rick Neale, Florida Today
They lost their cars and nearly their lives
In Cross City, Florida, Jessica Shyer and John Williams lost both their cars and nearly their lives.
They’d put their blue Ford Ranger and black Kia Forte in the middle of the yard. “We were as ready as you can get,” Williams said. “Honestly, we would be in a lot better off in a boat if not for a tree falling.”
“We usually don’t even have a branch fall in that area,” Shyer said.
At around 6 a.m. Wednesday, they watched the storm from their front porch. Shyer noticed a nearby, 80-foot water oak “wiggling almost like a loose tooth.”
She ran inside to get her keys. But she tripped, on nothing, in the process. Shyer believes it was her mother looking out for her. If not for that, she would’ve been in the Kia when the tree crushed it.
Her husband watched that happen from the front porch. The tree shook the earth when it fell. Then he saw “the brightest blue light you could possibly imagine.”
The tree took the electric line out, ripping away a chunk of roof in the process. The live wire slapped the earth beside his feet. Had there been standing water, Williams believes he would have been electrocuted. He thinks his mom was probably looking after him, too.
He’d moved to the area after seeing Hurricane Andrew devastate Broward County in 1992. After that, Williams said he’d seen enough. While the latest hurricane and Andrew can’t be compared, he said he hadn’t expected something of Idalia’s magnitude so far inland.
“We stayed out all night from the very beginning,” he said, “and we watched a bunch of devastation.”
Tornado, flooding in South Carolina
The rain came down in sheets across the Lowcountry Wednesday afternoon, punctuated by rolling thunderstorms and occasional wind gusts. In Charleston, storm surge from Idalia topped the seawall that protects the downtown, sending ankle-deep ocean water into the streets and neighborhoods.
“Dangerous coastal inundation is going across much of the lower South Carolina coast,” The National Weather Service warned on Twitter. “Do not go to the beach and stay out of flood waters.” Read more here.
− Joyce Orlando, USA TODAY NETWORK
‘Very fortunate’ in Citrus County
Citrus County Fire Rescue Chief Craig Stevens said such community-paralyzing flooding hasn’t been seen in the region since the unnamed March 1993 “Storm of the Century.”
That hurricane-like storm crashed into Florida’s Nature Coast packing wind gusts topping 90 mph, up to 12 feet of storm surge in Taylor County, and 9.5 feet of surge at Cedar Key, National Weather Service records show.
Thirteen people drowned, and an F2 tornado killed three people in Chiefland.
Stevens was working as a volunteer firefighter during that historic storm 30 years ago, helping man an airboat.
Wednesday, first responders rescued 76 people across Citrus County in Idalia’s wake. Stevens said he did not know of any reported injuries in Citrus County attributable to Idalia.
“This time, thankfully, everything lined up. We had the resources. The weather had already passed us. And it was daylight. So those three things make a big difference,” Stevens said, seated at a table in his office.
“We were very fortunate in Citrus County with the outcome of this storm. And we’ll pray for our counties to the north of us and be there for them when they need us,” he said.
− Rick Neale, Florida Today
Idalia splits century-old oak tree at Florida governor’s mansion
DeSantis was working in the state’s Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee on Wednesday when he received word from wife Casey that the storm split a century oak tree in the front yard of the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee.
“100 year old oak tree falls on the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee,” the first lady later tweeted on her X account. “Mason, Madison, Mamie and I were home at the time, but thankfully no one was injured. Our prayers are with everyone impacted by the storm.”
Security would not permit access to the tree but viewed from a sidewalk behind a fence, and judging from a photo Casey tweeted, the split oak appears to have a circumference big enough to be classified as a “veteran” oak, at least 100 years old, by the Woodland Trust Ancient Tree Inventory. The governor shrugged off the news: “If they do cut down the whole tree that’s just going to be more room for my kids to hit baseball,” DeSantis said. Read more here.
− James Call, Tallahassee Democrat
Path of destruction through Perry, Florida
Deborah Green’s family returned to Perry after the storm and were overwhelmed by the destruction in many other parts of town. The storm shredded commercial buildings signs, tipped over powerlines, blew out windows and ripped a gas station canopy off its foundation. Main roads that connect the city of 7,000 to the rest of the state were lined with live oak trees and long leaf pines, uprooted and snapped at their trunks.
On Wednesday, the family cleared debris from their yard. Their back porch was smashed by a fallen tree, and there was light roof damage elsewhere. Still, Green was thankful.
“We were blessed that we had our home to come back to,” Green said. Read more here.
Follow the path of Idalia
This forecast track shows the most likely path of the center of the storm but does not illustrate the full width of the storm or its impacts.
In Florida, ‘you loot, we shoot’
DeSantis said he has told the state’s emergency responders and law enforcement personnel to protect private property damaged by the storm or left vacant by evacuees. He issued an ominous warning to prospective looters at a briefing late Wednesday, saying would be held accountable legally and that “it could even be worse than that.”
“People have a right to defend their property,” DeSantis said. “In this part of Florida, you’ve got a lot of advocates and proponents of the 2nd Amendment, and I’ve seen signs in different people’s yards in the past after these disasters (that say)’You loot, we shoot.’ You never know what’s behind that door.”
‘Couldn’t believe it’:Floridians emerge from Idalia’s destruction with hopes to recover
Tropical Storm Jose not expected to impact US
Tropical Depression Eleven intensified to Tropical Storm Jose early Thursday. The storm was located several hundred miles east of Bermuda with sustained winds near 40 mph. Little change in strength was forecast, and the system was expected to be absorbed by Hurricane Franklin by the weekend.
Contributing: Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY
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