Hurricane Idalia threatened to evolve into an extremely dangerous Category 4 over the Gulf of Mexico, but it weakened to a Category 3 before making landfall at Keaton Beach in the Big Bend region of Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center.
It warned the storm might bring a “catastrophic” storm surge and destructive winds. The center emphasized that any change in wind speed won’t diminish the threat of a possible catastrophic storm surge. However, according to the latest updates, Idalia was downgraded to a Category 1 storm and then to a tropical storm because its wind speeds declined.
Hurricane warnings were rapidly issued for some parts of Georgia and South Carolina since Idalia traveled along its expected path up to the southeast coast of the United States, while Florida communities grappled with terrible infrastructure damage, shuttered airports, and, of course, widespread power outages.
