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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.
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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.
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As the storm begins to clear the Wakulla area, officials are taking stock of the damage and in some cases expressing gratitude that it wasn’t worse.
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Hurricane Idalia officially made landfall as a Category 3 Major Hurricane with sustained winds of 125 MPH near Keaton Beach at 7:45 EDT.
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“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.
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Ahead of Hurricane Idalia making landfall, evacuations (mandatory and voluntary) have been issued for several coastal counties in Florida.
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Emergency Officials from both counties announced its plans on Tuesday, less than 24 hours before the storm is expected to make landfall.
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The National Hurricane Center says models indicate Hurricane Idalia will make landfall in the area of Apalachee Bay, which is near Tallahassee in the northeast Gulf of Mexico.
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1.6 million people in 22 Gulf Coast counties are under evacuation orders, as Idalia is expected to cause life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds in North Florida.
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The forecast continues for Idalia to strengthen into a major category 3 hurricane and make landfall early Wednesday somewhere across the Big Bend Coast of Florida.