Watch a live view of Fort Myers as Hurricane Idalia hurtles towards Florida on Wednesday 30 August.
Millions of residents could be affected as the hurricane hurtles towards Florida’s Gulf Coast, where it is expected to hit on Wednesday morning with winds of at least 111 miles per hour (179 kph).
Evacuations have been ordered in parts of Florida. Most of the state and parts of Georgia and South Carolina are under storm warnings or advisories.
Idalia grew from a tropical storm into a hurricane early on Tuesday, whirling northward over the Gulf of Mexico after causing floods in western Cuba that forced residents of coastal towns to seek higher ground.
It is forecast to reach Category 4 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson wind scale, qualifying it as a major hurricane, when it reaches Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Hundreds of miles of Florida shoreline are under storm surge warnings as Idalia approaches, from Apalachicola Bay in the panhandle through Tampa, the state’s third-largest city, and down to Sarasota in the south.
The Florida emergency management agency has listed 28 counties with evacuation orders.
Sixteen counties issued mandatory evacuation orders for certain residents, especially those living in coastal and flood-prone areas or in mobile homes, recreational vehicles or structurally unsound housing.
Local authorities opened dozens of shelters for evacuees. They urged residents to take the evacuation orders seriously. “Please do not become complacent – take action now if you have not done so already,” wrote the sheriff’s office of Citrus County, north of Tampa, in a Facebook post.
