Idalia: Florida Evacuations, State Of Emergency

Sep 27, 2023

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T​his article is no longer being updated. For Tuesday's live updates page, click here.

E​vacuations have been ordered in at least 10 counties and emergencies declared in dozens of others as Idalia churns toward Florida.

The storm could be a major hurricane by the time it makes landfall, likely sometime Wednesday morning. That could mean life-threatening storm surge, flooding, wind and widespread power outages for areas along the Gulf Coast and inland.

(​MORE: Get The Latest Idalia Forecast | Maps Tracker)

R​esidents are being told to prepare now, while officials in some areas fear storm-jaded residents will ignore their warnings.

H​ere are our updates from throughout the day Monday:

T​he launch of a ULA Atlas V rocket from Florida's Space Coast has been postponed.

"Out of an abundance of caution for personnel safety, a critical national security payload & the approaching storm, the team made the decision to return the rocket & payload to the VIF" the U.S. Space Force's Space Launch 45 Delta said in a social media post.

T​he VIF, or Vehicle Integration Facility, is a large assembly building at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, adjacent to Kennedy Space Center.

Gulf, Suwannee and Taylor counties have been added to the list of locations with mandatory evacuations for residents and visitors in the most vulnerable locations and homes. The other counties announced earlier are: Citrus, Levy, Hillsborough, Manatee Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota.

I​n all cases, the evacuations so far only apply to people in Zone A, or Level A, depending on each county's nomenclature.

I​dalia brought heavy rainfall to Cuba as it churned toward the Florida coast. The western part of the island was hardest hit. That area is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Ian last year. A state of alert was issued and residents evacuated in some areas.

O​neBlood, which serves 250 hospitals and their patients in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, is asking people to donate blood ahead of Idalia.

“Hurricanes and tropical systems often disrupt blood collections for several days. The most critical time for blood donations is prior to any storm or hurricane in order to sustain the blood supply during and immediately after the event”, OneBlood spokesperson Susan Forbes said in a news release.

T​he nonprofit is known for its "Big Red Bus" blood drives.

T​he launch tomorrow of a ULA Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is currently proceeding as planned. The rocket is scheduled to take off from the station, adjacent to Kennedy Space Center, at 8:34 a.m. eastern time. The launch pad is in an area currently under a tropical storm watch.

Weather is 70% go. T​he U.S. Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron, which issues launch day forecasts, said Idalia should still be far enough away to prevent any major weather issues.

“The question is, have they prepared so many times for a storm that didn’t come to fruition that they don’t take it seriously," Gainesville, Florida, Mayor Harvey Ward told The Weather Channel.

W​ard said local utilities and city emergency response crews are preparing for power outages, flooding or other impacts from Idalia.

“Certainly the intensity of this storm is a concern,” he said.

“We expect lots of rainfall. That’s something we deal with anyway, it’s summer in Florida. But the wind is of great concern to me.”

“What people need to remember is that no two storms are alike," FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told The Weather Channel.

"Listen to the actual risks, inside or outside of the cone."

C​riswell reminded people to be prepared to follow instructions given out by local authorities, including evacuation orders or recommendations to shelter in place.

“Understand what your risk is and then make the plan for what you are going to do to protect you and your family when you are asked to do something," she said.

Ahead of what's expected to be a busy Labor Day weekend, a​irlines including Southwest, Frontier, Allegiant, Delta, United and jetBlue are warning of possible delays and cancellations starting tomorrow at airports across parts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Cities that could be affected include Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers, Jacksonville and Sarasota-Bradenton in Florida; Valdosta, Savannah and Columbus in Georgia; Charleston, Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.

I​n most cases, passengers are being allowed to change their reservations with no extra fees.

"Although we haven’t been hit in a century we continue to prepare and take these storms very, very seriously," Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told The Weather Channel.

“We just continue the mantra of 'please, just be prepared.'"

T​he city is draining storm water ponds, passing out tens of thousands of sand bags and opening shelters for parts of the county under evacuation orders.

One Florida couple, David and Catherine Stodart, are evacuating their home in St. Petersburg, Florida, ahead of Idalia’s arrival.

“We are very near to the water and so we are making every precaution,” Catherine Stodart told Live Storms Media. “We are sealing everything we can with plastics and sandbags.”

The Stodarts plan on staying in the Orlando area until the storm passes.

Click here to watch the full interview.

Idalia remains a tropical storm, but is still expected to become a hurricane sometime tonight.

Regardless of when that happens, areas along the Florida Gulf Coast should be prepared for impacts starting as soon as tomorrow morning.

“There’s a lot of tropical moisture out ahead of this thing,” weather.com senior meteorologist Chris Dolce said. “We’ll start to see increasing rain as well as some tropical storm force winds arriving tomorrow.”

Landfall is expected Wednesday morning.

“Then the system will move across northern Florida, South Georgia and be somewhere near the coastal Carolinas by Wednesday night,” Dolce said.

Click here for the latest forecast.

Schools across Florida are closing and canceling classes in anticipation of the upcoming storm.

Closed through Wednesday: Pasco-Hernando State College

Closed Tuesday and Wednesday: College of Central Florida, Florida Gateway College, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Hillsborough Community College, South Florida State College, St. Petersburg College, State College of Florida, University of North Florida and University of South Florida

Classes canceled Tuesday: New College of Florida

Will close at noon on Tuesday, closed on Wednesday: North Florida College, University of Florida

Will close at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, closed on Wednesday: Lake-Sumter State College

Closed on Wednesday: Florida A&M University, Florida State University

Residents up and down the Gulf Coast are getting ready for Idalia, expected to make landfall Wednesday. That includes prepping for flooding and other impacts.

A​t least six counties have ordered evacuations for residents in Zone A or Level A, which are typically areas most vulnerable to coastal flooding. Counties with evacuation orders for those areas include Citrus, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota, all in the Tampa Bay area.

I​n addition, evacuation orders are in place for parts of Levy County.

S​ome of the orders also include people in manufactured homes.

T​imes the orders start and availability of shelters varies. Please check with your local emergency management office for the most up to date information.

The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport will close at 3 p.m. on Tuesday with plans to reopen at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

The airport, located in Pinellas County is in a mandatory evacuation zone. Pinellas County has issued a mandatory evacuation order of Zone A including all mobile homes starting at 7 p.m. on Monday. Evacuation orders for residential healthcare facilities in the same zone have also been issued as of 1 p.m.

Several of the deaths related to Hurricane Ian last year in Florida happened during power outages when people couldn’t use life-saving home medical equipment such as oxygen tanks.

If you or someone you love relies on electricity for medical needs, here’s what to do right now:

-Contact your local emergency management office to see if there is a special needs registry for your area, and know if there are special needs evacuation centers available and how you will get to them.

-Be sure to contact your electric company or power provider to see if they have a system for priority restoration.

-Wear medical alert tags or bracelets and add any pertinent information to electronic devices, like your cell phone.

-Build a support network of people you can rely on to help in case of an emergency, and check on friends, neighbors and loved ones who might be in need.

M​andatory evacuations for Zone A and some other residents are being ordered for counties along the Gulf Coast including Manatee where the city of Bradenton and barrier islands of Anna Maria Island and a portion of Longboat Key are located and Pinellas, where the cities of St. Petersburg and Clearwater as well as several beach communities are located.

For Cedar Key City Commissioner Sue Colson, hurricane season opens up with a city-wide prep day where they remove hazardous waste material and start to get people thinking about hurricanes.

“Today we’re urging everyone to take this seriously,” Colson told The Weather Channel. “This is a wind event as well as a surge event.”

Colson said that people need to take time to prepare their property by removing loose material from their yards, securing gas tanks and garbage cans and making sure all the gas in their house has been turned off. Cedar Key is an island city three miles off the northwest coast of Florida with about 10 miles of roads across the island.

“You may lose access to get in and out of your little part of the island,” Colson said. “You may be stuck there for a long time with water and without sewage, so we don’t want you here if all that stuff is off.”

Click here for more tips to prepare for hurricane season.

M​ore than a dozen school districts have so far announced they'll be closed in the coming days. That includes Hillsborough County, one of the ten largest districts in the nation with more than 210,000 students, which will close on Tuesday and Wednesday.

O​ther districts announcing closures include Charlotte, Citrus, Dixie, Duval, Gilchrist, Hardee, Hernando, Jefferson, Lee, Levy, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota. A full list is available here.

I​n some cases, schools are closing so that they can be used as shelters for either voluntary or mandatory evacuations.

Thirteen counties have been added to the state of emergency in Florida. They are: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lake, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Nassau, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, and Wakulla.

From weather.com senior meteorologist Chris Dolce: Idalia is battling some wind shear, which has prevented it from intensifying much since Sunday night. W​ind shear can be a speed bump to developing tropical cyclones since it blows thunderstorms away from a storm's center or tilts their cylindrical vortex, disrupting the ideal heat engine that usually allows storms to intensify.

This wind shear should abate over the next 12 to 24 hours, allowing a significant intensification of Idalia to commence. With extremely warm Gulf waters along its future path, Idalia is forecast by the National Hurricane Center to become a major hurricane before striking Florida Wednesday.

The embassy, located in Havana on Cuba’s northern coast, will close early on Monday and remain closed on Tuesday as Tropical Storm Idalia approaches the country.

All appointments on Tuesday are canceled and further closure announcements will be made as necessary, the embassy said in an alert.

U.S. citizens are advised to avoid beaches and coastlines, monitor weather updates and maintain several days of clean drinking water and food.

On Wednesday there will be a supermoon, which is when a full moon appears larger and brighter than usual because the moon is near its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit.

High tides are usually slightly larger during full moons, meaning that storm surge flooding can be exacerbated if it occurs during a high tide.

I​n the Big Bend area of Florida, high tide will occur at around midday, so a landfall at around that time may increase storm surge levels.

For more things weather.com meteorologists are concerned about with Idalia, click here.

T​he commander of MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa is ordering evacuations for all non-essential personnel attached to the base who live in an "A" evacuation zone. The order applies to uniformed service members and civilian employees, as well as their family members, who live in Hillsborough, Sarasota, Manatee, Pinellas, Pasco or Hernando counties.

T​he order was issued in coordination with Hillsborough County officials, according to a Facebook post from the base.

Tampa International Airport (TPA) will be suspending all commercial operations starting 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday.

The airport and its partners will be preparing the airfield and terminals in anticipation for Idalia’s landfall early Wednesday. TPA is not equipped to function as a shelter and all areas will be closed to visitors.

The airport anticipates reopening on Thursday morning, with damage assessments beginning after the storm passes.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued storm surge and hurricane warnings across portions of the Florida Gulf Coast.

(MORE: What Is A Storm Surge?)

Flash and urban flooding is expected across parts of Florida’s west coast, the Florida Panhandle and southern Georgia Tuesday into Wednesday. Flooding may spread into portions of the eastern Carolinas Wednesday into Thursday.

Later today, hurricane force winds and heavy rain is expected across parts of far western Cuba and may potentially lead to areas of flash flooding and landslides.

President Biden spoke with Florida governor Ron DeSantis on Monday, offering federal assistance in anticipation of Tropical Storm Idalia.

The president’s emergency declaration authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate all disaster relief efforts and provide assistance for emergency measures.

FEMA has pre-deployed personnel and resources to the state, according to the White House.

(​MORE: 7 Things Florida Newcomers Should Know About Hurricane Season)

Pasco County, located on the west central coast of Florida, is the first county in the state to issue mandatory evacuations.

Residents must evacuate according to the county’s zone map. Individuals also must evacuate if they live in a manufactured home such as a mobile home or RV, a low-lying area, an area that is prone to flooding or a structure that has historically experienced flooding during heavy rainfall.

Schools across the county will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

H​uman error was blamed over the weekend when diesel fuel was switched for gasoline at more than two dozen Citgo stations near the west coast of Florida. Customers who filled up after 10 a.m. Saturday at the Citgo stations listed here were at risk of potential contamination.

T​he stations affected by the contamination spanned from Fort Myers northward to Brooksville.

H​ere's more on this developing situation.

S​peaking to The Weather Channel this morning, Hernando County Emergency Management Agency Director David DeCarlo shared his biggest fear as Idalia was expected to come ashore in the area.

"My biggest fear is storm surge," he said.

"​My other biggest fear is people are not going to take this seriously," DeCarlo added. "It's been a long time since we've been affected by this type of category storm. Please don't take it lightly."

Y​ou can see more of the interview here.

S​aturday was the first day of Florida's second Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday of the year, and it runs through Sept. 8. Here are some items that are tax-exempt and could be used to better prepare for a tropical cyclone like Idalia:

-​A nonelectric food storage cooler with a sales price of $60 or less

-​A portable power bank with a sales price of $60 or less

-​A portable self-powered radio, two-way radio, or weather-band radio with a sales price of $50 or less

-​A portable generator used to provide light or communications or preserve food in the event of a power outage with a sales price of $3,000 or less (and here are some very important tips for safe generator use)

T​he Florida Department of Revenue has a complete list.

P​reparations for the storm are escalating, including:

-​State of emergency declared for 33 counties

-​1,100 Florida National Guard members activated

-​2,400 high water vehicles available for potential rescues

-​300 Florida Highway Patrol troopers ready to deploy

T​he Florida Department of Education announced a few districts are closing due to Idalia, with more closures likely as the storm gets closer to the state.

-​Hernando County Schools: Closed today through Wednesday

-​Citrus County Schools: Half-day today; closed Tuesday and Wednesday

A​dditional updates will be provided here.

A​nother concerning factor of Idalia's eventual track is how prone to storm surge much of Florida's west coast can be. This will further worsen the impacts of the storm, with peak storm surge of 7-11 feet expected along parts of Florida's Big Bend.

"​So it will not take a strong system or a direct hit to produce significant storm surge," said Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center. "So if you’re anywhere along the Florida Peninsula, western Florida Peninsula, so let’s say from about Fort Myers northward to the Panhandle, you've really got to be paying attention."

P​reparations are underway in areas like Tallahassee and Tampa as the rush to get supplies is on. Video taken yesterday showed long lines for gas and other crucial supplies, and stores are expected to be packed again today.

H​ere's a handy checklist for how to prepare for a storm like Idalia.

I​n a concerning trend, the forecast for Idalia indicates rapid intensification is increasingly likely prior to the storm's expected Florida landfall, and that could bring it to a Category 3 or stronger when it strikes the coastline. The NHC's official forecast for the storm projects Idalia to be a major hurricane when it makes landfall sometime Wednesday morning.

"​The bottom line is that rapid intensification is becoming increasingly likely before landfall, and the NHC forecast now explicitly indicates it" in the next 24 to 48 hours, the hurricane center said this morning.

I​nformation from the Associated Press was used in this report.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.