{"id":7518,"date":"2023-08-28T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aipflorida.com\/?p=7518"},"modified":"2023-08-29T12:46:08","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T17:46:08","slug":"idalia-blooming-into-a-hurricane-heading-to-floridas-big-bend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aipflorida.com\/es\/blog\/idalia-blooming-into-a-hurricane-heading-to-floridas-big-bend\/","title":{"rendered":"IDALIA BLOOMING INTO A HURRICANE HEADING TO FLORIDA\u2019S BIG BEND"},"content":{"rendered":"

August 28, 2023 PM Update<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Tropical Storm Idalia is expected to become a hurricane later tonight as mandatory evacuations are underway along Florida\u2019s Gulf Coast.\u00a0 It is still forecast to come ashore Wednesday morning as a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds in excess of 111 mph, 6-10\u201d of rain in Central and North-Central Florida,\u00a0 and dangerous storm surge of 8-12 feet. \u00a0Expect hurricane-force winds as soon as late afternoon tomorrow (Tuesday).\u00a0 The current forecast track as of 8pm still has the center of the storm\u00a0making landfall anywhere from around Cape San Blas to Tampa Bay sometime mid-morning Wednesday<\/strong>\u00a0as at least a Category 3 hurricane.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Their best estimate remains somewhere in the middle, which would be rural and sparsely-populated Taylor and Dixie Counties.\u00a0 However, as we know, the northeast quadrant to a storm\u2019s eye usually has the strongest, most damaging winds.\u00a0\u00a0 Also,\u00a0a third of the time, the storm travels outside the cone. \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>In fact,\u00a0a tropical storm watch is now in effect for parts of Florida\u2019s East Coast,\u00a0<\/strong>so big is its potential impact.<\/p>\n

As of 8pm this evening, Idalia was located off the western tip of Cuba, moving slowly for now north, expected to speed-up and veer more north-northeast beginning tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.\u00a0 With winds at 70 mph, it is just below hurricane strength.\u00a0 NOAA has hurricane hunters in the storm and will know later this evening whether it\u2019s a hurricane.\u00a0\u00a0Forecasters warn that Idalia is a large storm and because it\u2019s moving fast, we\u2019ll feel the winds well before it arrives.<\/strong>\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t focus on the cone graphic because warnings are well outside of the cone.\u00a0\u00a0There are a lot of favorable factors for it to intensify<\/strong>,\u201d warned a hurricane center forecaster this evening.\u00a0 The\u00a0record ocean and gulf temperatures<\/a>\u00a0are unfortunately ideal to fuel powerful hurricanes.<\/p>\n

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Verisk Weather Solutions this morning shared a weather\u00a0scenario where Hurricane Idalia makes landfall as a very low-end Category 4 Hurricane near Alligator Point, south of Tallahassee<\/strong>, before moving inland where the western eyewall would pass over Tallahassee.\u00a0 The strongest wind gusts of 100+ mph would focus on the Big Bend region of Florida with isolated gusts to this magnitude extending inland to as far north as the Georgia border.\u00a0 Wind gusts of 70+ mph would extend further inland across northern Florida and into southern Georgia.\u00a0 40+ mph gusts would be possible across much of central and northern Florida as well as much of Georgia and portions of the Carolinas.<\/p>\n

Current Warnings\/Watches as of 8pm:<\/u><\/p>\n

Hurricane Warning:\u00a0<\/strong>from Cape San Blas south to Longboat Key, including the following counties: western Alachua, Citrus, Dixie, coastal Franklin, Gilchrist, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lafayette, Levy, Madison, Manatee, western Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, and coastal Wakulla counties.
\nHurricane Watch<\/strong>\u00a0from Englewood to the middle of Longboat Key, including the following counties: eastern Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Hamilton, Leon, central Marion, Sarasota, Union, and inland Wakulla counties.
\nTropical Storm Warning<\/strong>\u00a0from Chokoloskee northward to the middle of Longboat Key and from west of Indian Pass to Mexico Beach, including the following counties: Charlotte, coastal Collier, DeSoto, inland Franklin, Gulf, Hardee, Lake, Lee, Leon, Liberty, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, and inland Wakulla counties, as well as the Dry Tortugas.
\nTropical Storm Watch\u00a0<\/strong>from the Lower Florida Keys west of the west end of the Seven Mile Bridge, and on the East Coast from Sebastian Inlet, Florida northward to South Santee River, South Carolina;\u00a0 it includes the following counties: Brevard, Clay, inland Collier, Duval, Flagler, East Marion, Nassau, Putnam, Seminole, St. Johns, and Volusia counties, as well as the Lower Keys.
\nStorm Surge Warning\u00a0<\/strong>for the Gulf Coast from the Charlotte\/Sarasota County border to the Franklin\/Gulf County border, including Tampa Bay.
\nStorm Surge Watch\u00a0<\/strong>along the Gulf Coast from the Charlotte\/Sarasota County border to the Collier\/Monroe County border.<\/p>\n

Storm surge of 8-12 feet from the Aucilla River in Jefferson County south to Chassahowitzka River in Citrus County is forecast.\u00a0\u00a0This is a dangerous and life-threatening surge<\/strong>, especially for people and buildings in low-lying coastal areas along that part of the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n

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The Governor extended the\u00a0state of emergency declaration<\/a>\u00a0from 33 to 46 counties to include much of north-central and northeast Florida, as\u00a0Idalia\u2019s forecast track takes it across the state and into Georgia and the Carolinas.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0FEMA today granted a pre-landfall emergency declaration for Idalia. \u00a0The Governor said this morning, \u201cWe\u2019re also stressing that\u00a0evacuating from a barrier island doesn\u2019t mean you need to get in your car and drive to Alabama or hundreds of miles away, you need to get to higher ground in a safe structure.\u00a0<\/strong>That could be a shelter, a friend\u2019s home, or a hotel.\u201d\u00a0 The Governor late this afternoon suspended tolls beginning at 4am tomorrow (Tuesday) along major highways along Florida\u2019s west coast.\u00a0 Florida\u2019s\u00a0511 Traveler Information System<\/a>\u00a0is available for drivers to stay informed about roadway conditions during emergencies.\u00a0 He\u2019s also mobilized 1,500 National Guard members and a fleet of 2,400 high-water rescue vehicles and 12 aircraft in any rescue and recovery efforts.<\/p>\n

Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie reinforced that message, reminding residents that\u00a0\u201cstorm surge was the number one cause of deaths in Hurricane Ian.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0 He urged eveyone to go to\u00a0www.FloridaDisaster.org\/know<\/a>\u00a0where they will be able to type in their home address to find out which flood evacuation zone they are in.\u00a0\u00a0 Those not living in an evacuation zone and lacking a specific local evacuation order in this storm, can consider sheltering in place.<\/p>\n

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Evacuations:<\/strong>\u00a0As we referenced in yesterday\u2019s update, the greater Tampa Bay area is home to the largest population in Florida \u2013 nearly 3.3 million people.\u00a0 It\u2019s also consider to be the\u00a0most flood vulnerable<\/a>\u00a0area of Florida.\u00a0\u00a0Mandatory evacuations began today<\/strong>\u00a0for residents living along Tampa Bay and Hillsborough Bay and other waterways in\u00a0Hillsborough County<\/a>\u00a0and along the coastal barrier beaches and waterways of\u00a0Pinellas County<\/a>.\u00a0 Likewise in Pasco and Levy counties, just north of Tampa and in Manatee County to the south.\u00a0 Most schools in counties along the coast as well as inland North-Central Florida will be closed tomorrow and Wednesday.\u00a0 See the\u00a0complete list of evacuation orders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Infrastructure Update:\u00a0<\/strong>The Governor has also\u00a0repeatedly warned Floridians to expect to lose power in the storm.<\/strong>\u00a0 Tampa Electric and Duke Energy, which serves many communities on the Central West Coast, said they\u2019ve been staging thousands of workers in and just outside of Florida, ready to repair any outages.\u00a0 The Florida Municipal Electric Association\u00a0likewise said more than 30 member utilities from across the Southeast and Midwest are providing mutual assistance in staging nearby. \u00a0Tampa International Airport and St.Pete-Clearwater International Airport will close tomorrow and Sunrail commuter service in Orlando is being suspended as well.<\/p>\n

Insurance Claims:\u00a0<\/strong>The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) issued Informational Memorandum\u00a0OIR-23-05M<\/a>\u00a0to all authorized residential property insurers to provide guidance on hurricane preparedness and response. \u00a0The Memorandum\u00a0covers claims handling requirements, maintaining records, and fines that OIR may levy for violations.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0OIR has directed insurers to review all aspects of their disaster preparedness and response plans to ensure they\u2019re in compliance with Florida law.<\/p>\n

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Tallahassee home boarded-up in preparation for Hurricane Idalia, August 28, 2023<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In Leon County (Tallahassee), as in many other communities of the Big Bend and Florida\u2019s west coast, sandbag sites were busy with residents filling-up their own sandbags for protection against home flooding. \u00a0Residents have also begun boarding up their windows for protection against the wind.<\/p>\n

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services today finished its investigation of the\u00a0fuel contamination<\/a>\u00a0caused by human error at the Port of Tampa.\u00a0 Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson said that by this evening he hopes to have all impacted gas stations identified and have their tanks replaced with clean fuel.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a>\u00a0for the full National Hurricane Center briefing with maps.\u00a0 Visit\u00a0FloridaDisaster.org\/Updates<\/a>\u00a0for the very latest state disaster management information.\u00a0 You can also review our past\u00a0Hurricane Updates<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0subscribe<\/a>\u00a0to receive future updates in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Please know that\u00a0we at\u00a0Lisa Miller & Associates<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0are here 24\/7 for you<\/strong>.\u00a0 It may sound trite but we are all in this together, my friends and colleagues.\u00a0 Please prepare and be aware!<\/p>\n

Lisa & the LMA team<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Here\u2019s the latest news from the Governor\u2019s Office on specific state preparedness actions and a list of mobilized resources:)<\/p>\n

State Preparedness Efforts<\/strong><\/p>\n