Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Florida as an "extremely dangerous" Category 3 storm on Wednesday (August 30) after millions of residents evacuated or hunkered down in homes and shelters in anticipation of a life-threatening storm surge, Reuters reports.
Drawing strength from the Gulf of Mexico's warm waters, Idalia unleashed destructive winds and torrential downpours that were forecast to cause coastal flooding up to 16 feet (4.88 m) deep along the state's Gulf Coast.
Idalia came ashore at 7:45 a.m. EDT (1145 GMT) at Keaton Beach, an ocean-front community of 13,000 people in Taylor County, about 75 miles (121 km) southeast of Tallahassee, the state capital.
The town lies in the center of the Big Bend region, where the state's northern panhandle curves into the Florida Peninsula.
