Cleanup has begun in the wake of Hurricane Idalia on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The Category 3 storm made landfall yesterday morning at Keaton Beach in the state’s Big Bend region with 125-mph winds and a storm surge that stretched for miles, flooding low-lying communities.
According to reporting by Reuters, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said authorities were investigating one traffic-related storm fatality.
In an initial assessment, Reuters said investment bank UBS estimates that insured property losses are approximately $9.36 billion.
An offshore powerboat race scheduled for this weekend in St. Petersburg is still expected to happen.
The last time a hurricane of this magnitude hit the Big Bend Region was 1896. Storm surge had been one of the primary concerns, with Idalia coinciding with a supermoon. Water levels crested at 8.03 feet on the Steinhatchee River, and Cedar Key had a surge of more than 6 feet.
Idalia weakened to a tropical storm as it moved over land. The storm center was about 20 miles southwest of Myrtle Beach, S.C., at 2 a.m. this morning, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. At 5 a.m., the storm had tracked out to sea.
