Hurricane Idalia

Tropical Storm Idalia descended on the Carolinas on its way out to the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, leaving a trail of flooding and destruction that stretched back to its landfall in Florida.

More than half a million utility customers lost power during the storm, which crashed ashore around 7:45 a.m. EST Wednesday in Taylor County’s Keaton Beach area.

After a record hot summer, warmer waters in the Gulf of Mexico fueled the intensity of Hurricane Idalia. It briefly reached Category 4 just before landfall.

Hurricane Idalia officially made landfall as a Category 3 Major Hurricane with sustained winds of 125 MPH near Keaton Beach at 7:45 EDT.

“You really got to go back to the late 1800s to find a storm of this magnitude that will enter (the state) where this one looks like it’s going to enter tomorrow,” Gov. DeSantis said Tuesday evening.