Hurricane Idalia Strengthens and Advances Toward Florida and East Coast States

More than 600,000 Floridians are in an all-too-familiar hurricane watch as a storm not on any radars three days ago rockets their way.

NOAA Satellite imagery of Tropical Storm Idalia strengthening in the Gulf as it moves northward toward Florida and Cat 4 Hurricane Franklin in the Atlantic (right) on Aug. 28, 2023. Screenshot via The Epoch Times/CIRA/RAMMB

No longer a tropical storm, Idalia has strengthened into a hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, as it continues to move toward Florida. Its predicted storm track now stretches up the eastern coastline of the United States to parts of North Carolina.

Gov. Ron DeSantis was planning to provide an update at 9 a.m. It can be watched live on The Florida Channel, and on the governor’s pages on Facebook and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.