Aug. 29 (UPI) — Scores of businesses and entities in western Florida announced they were closing as Hurricane Idalia moved closer to Florida’s west coast in what forecasters believe will be a major hurricane.
Gov. Ron DeSantis gave a briefing Tuesday morning as the storm approached while state officials called on residents to obey evacuation orders.
“This storm is going to hit tomorrow morning, you will start seeing effects in parts of the state later today,” DeSantis said. “You still have time to finish your preparations, but you have to do that now.”
DeSantis said the state is coordinating with various electrical companies to build an army of 25,000 linemen who will respond to power outages once the storm has passed.
Hernando County, the St. Petersburg-Clearwater-Tampa metropolitan area, was given a mandatory evacuation order Tuesday morning.
“If you have to evacuate, please do so,” urged county emergency management director David DeCarlo. “If you choose to stay on Hernando Beach, Pine Island, Aripeka — there’s going to be a chance we’re not going to be able to get you at a certain point for rescue.”
Florida also dispatched its Urban Search and Rescue teams to the west coast and the central part of the state in anticipation of rescue efforts. Along with the equipment, the crews are bringing K-9 units to help search for victims in fallen structures.
“You have to rely on the equipment you brought in so resources can be brought in after things have been made safe,” said Miami Fire Rescue Captain Ignatius Carroll, who is going into the area. “We’re prepared for that, but we’re also hoping that a lot of people heed the warnings to evacuate the areas that are gonna be affected by the storm.
“We have high-water vehicles that allow us to traverse through any kind of terrain-flooded areas. The boats will allow us to get to areas that are completely flooded or washed away, where the only way you can access it is by boat.”
AdventHealth said it would evacuate its hospital in Tarpon Springs, less than two miles from the Gulf of Mexico, on Tuesday ahead of Hurricane Idalia, moving patients, and relocating more than 60 patients to other hospitals by noon.
“Given our location and proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, along with the projected storm surge of 5-7 feet and mandatory evacuation orders, we are evacuating our AdventHealth North Pinellas hospital in Tarpon Springs out of an abundance of caution for the safety of our patients, visitors and team members,” AdventHealth officials said.
According to the airline tracking website Flight Aware, 83% of the flights leaving Tampa International Airport were canceled on Tuesday with 87% of flights that were scheduled to fly into the airport.
Lake County, part of the Kissimmee-Orlando metropolitan area, said they will continue bus service until 8 p.m. before shutting it down. Public schools in 24 counties, including Tampa’s Hillsborough County as far south as Fort Myers’ Lee County.
New College of Florida, the University of North Florida and the University of South Florida all announced their closure because of the oncoming storm.
Late Monday, United Launch Alliance announced it had delayed the planned launch of its Atlas V rocket, which has a payload from the National Reconnaissance Office.
“Out of an abundance of caution for personnel safety, a critical national security payload and the approaching [Hurricane] Idalia, the team made the decision to return the rocket and payload to the vertical integration facility,” ULA said.
