DeSantis Warns Residents to ‘Hunker Down’ as Hurricane Idalia Roars in as ‘Extremely Dangerous’ Category 4 Storm

Governor advises immediate evacuation before conditions worsen; warns of no assistance during storm if people remain.

A satellite image shows Hurricane Idalia, center, approaching Florida's Gulf Coast, and Hurricane Franklin, right, as it moves along the East coast of the United States, southwest of Bermuda, at 1:31 p.m. EDT on Aug. 29, 2023. NOAA via AP

As the sun rose on Aug. 30, Gov. Ron DeSantis warned Floridians in the Big Bend Region of the state’s Gulf Coast to expect a 16-foot storm surge as Hurricane Idalia appeared it would charge onto land within the hour.

He lamented that about 100 had ignored evacuation orders to leave Cedar Key, saying those people likely would need to be on the third floor of a building to survive the rising waters. Rescue efforts would begin as soon as the storm had passed, he said.

“Wherever you are, hunker down, and don’t take anything for granted here,” Mr. DeSantis said from the podium. “This is a very, very powerful storm.”

By the end of the day on Aug. 29, 49 of the state’s 67 counties had been placed under mandatory evacuation orders after Hurricane Idalia strengthened into an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 intensity ahead of making landfall.

By 5 a.m. on Aug. 30, Idalia had sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph).

The National Hurricane Center reported that hurricane-force winds were extending 25 miles outside of the storm’s center, and tropical-storm-force winds would reach 175 miles out.

Even while still offshore, Hurricane Idalia delivered intense damage to much of Florida’s eastern Gulf Coast, bringing intense wind, rain, and rising floodwater from the Tampa Bay area and Tarpon Springs, north along what’s known as the Nature Coast. Mr. DeSantis said tornados have been a problem in more inland areas.

“We currently have 54,000 households that are out of power throughout the State of Florida,” he added. “But there have been over 100,000 households that have already been restored through hard work all through the night. And those restoration efforts are ongoing.”

“Any place it’s safe to go, people are there working to get that done as soon as it’s safe to do so, when the winds die down to a sufficient level search-and-rescue efforts will begin.”

A tornado watch was issued until 6 a.m. ET for 3.7 million people in the western peninsula of Florida.

The National Weather Service office in Tallahassee said that some locations “may be uninhabitable for several weeks or months” following the hurricane, because of large trees being uprooted, debris in the streets, and other wind damage.

A satellite image shows Hurricane Idalia moving northward over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, at 12:40 p.m. ET on Aug. 29, 2023. CIRA/NOAA

‘Unprecedented Event’

The National Weather Service Tallahassee office said Idalia “has the makings of an unprecedented event for this part of the state.”

“To put this system into the historical context, there are NO major hurricanes in the historical dataset going back to 1851 that have tracked into Apalachee Bay. None. Don’t mess around with this one.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is also a candidate for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, repeatedly warned residents under evacuation orders before Hurricane Idalia made landfall.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis tells Florida residents to take safety precautions as Hurricane Idalia is set to sweep through part of the state on Aug. 29, 2023. WFSU-TV/The Florida Channel via AP/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

“You still have a couple hours to pack up and get on the road before conditions deteriorate, but by late tonight you will need to hunker down and stay in place,” the Republican governor wrote on X, formerly, Twitter, late Tuesday. “If you choose to stay, first responders will not be able to get to you until after the storm has passed,” he added.

Shelters are open across the high-risk counties while more than 300 members of the Florida Highway Patrol are on standby to escort equipment, resources, and response teams in the wake of the hurricane.

The Florida National Guard has been fully activated, Mr. DeSantis said, with 3,700 guardsmen currently in position across the state for preparedness and response efforts and an additional 1,800 guardsmen on the way ahead of the storm landing.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has said he is in “constant contact” with Mr. DeSantis ahead of the hurricane touching down, adding that his administration is providing him with “everything he could possibly need.”

“We’re worried about the surge, the ocean surge. We don’t know exactly — hour to hour, we’re watching this,” The President told reporters late Tuesday.  “But I told the governor, and the mayor of the region that’s likely to be hit first, that we’re there as long as it takes, and we’ll make sure they have everything they need,” he added.

Idalia Now Category 4

Florida isn’t the only state at risk.

“A northward to north-northeastward motion is expected through morning, with Idalia’s center forecast to reach the Big Bend coast of Florida this morning,” NWS said in an update in the early hours of the morning Wednesday.”

After landfall, Idalia is forecast to turn toward the northeast and east-northeast, moving near or along the coasts of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina late today and Thursday.”

“Idalia is likely to still be a hurricane while moving across southern Georgia, and possibly when it reaches the coast of Georgia or southern South Carolina late today,” officials added.

The governors of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia have declared states of emergency in advance of the storm touching down and have urged residents to monitor local forecasts and to begin taking proper precautions.

Hurricane Idalia looks set to become the fourth major hurricane to strike Florida over the past seven years, following Irma in 2017, Michael in 2018 and Ian, which peaked at Category 5, last September.