Florida residents had begun stocking up on sandbags and evacuating homes in low-lying areas along the coast on Monday.
As the state prepared, Idalia thrashed Cuba with heavy rain, especially in the westernmost part of the island, where the tobacco-producing province of Pinar del Rio is still recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian almost a year ago.
Idalia is also the latest in a summer of natural disasters, including wildfires in Hawaii, Canada and Greece; the first tropical storm to hit California in 84 years; and devastating flooding in Vermont. The governor said the Florida Department of Transportation would waive tolls on highways in the Tampa area and the Big Bend starting at 4am on Tuesday to help ease any burden on people in the path of the storm.Evacuation notices have been issued in 21 counties, with mandatory orders for some people in eight of those counties.
“Once the storm surge comes in, help may not be available to reach you,” the county said in a public advisory. MacDill Air Force Base, located in Tampa Bay, is preparing to evacuate several aircraft and began a mandatory evacuation Monday morning for personnel who live in local counties, the air force said in a statement.
At 5am EDT on Tuesday, Hurricane Idalia was about 370 miles south-southwest of Tampa, with maximum sustained winds of 168mph , the hurricane centre said. It was moving north at 14mph .
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