At least one death reported as Idalia moves out to Atlantic Ocean

NICK ROBERTSON

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Hurricane Idalia left a path of destruction and high water in its wake as it moved east off the coast of the Carolinas on Thursday morning.

The hurricane made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend early Wednesday with winds of 125 mph, carving a path across southeast Georgia, South Carolina and parts of North Carolina for nearly 24 hours on land.

As many as half a million people were without power at the storm’s worst, and around 300,000 — mostly in Florida and Georgia — still lack electricity.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) reported at least one “unconfirmed” fatality Wednesday. The Florida Highway Patrol said two people died in weather-related car crashes. A man in Georgia also died after a tree fell on him, according to local police.

“We are not finding anybody at home,” Florida emergency manager Kevin Guthrie said in a press conference Wednesday. “Many, many people heeded the warnings to evacuate and we, so far, have not had any reports of … fatalities related to any drowning or any flooding.”

Evacuation orders were issued in 28 Florida counties.

Recovery and repair efforts have begun in the storm-ravaged states, though the damage was less severe than anticipated as the storm mostly avoided large cities. Tampa Bay received a glancing blow at the storm’s worst, and Charleston took a direct hit from a severely weakened storm overnight.

The storm surge in Charleston was measured at more than 9 feet, topping the city’s seawall and marking the fifth highest since records began in 1899.

Tallahassee lost power but avoided the worst of the storm. A 100-year-old tree outside the governor’s mansion also split and fell, damaging the building, but no injuries were reported.

Idalia is the strongest hurricane to hit the rural Big Bend region in years, raising fears the area may not be able to recover as quickly as parts of the state with more frequent hurricanes.

President Biden said Wednesday he has been in touch with the governors of the states impacted by the storm and pledged to provide them with “anything their states need,” to aid recovery.

He said the storm and other recent disasters are proof of climate change’s impacts on worsening weather.

“I don’t think anybody can deny the impact of the climate crisis anymore,” Biden added.

Forecasts now predict Idalia, still a tropical storm, could hit Bermuda by Sunday evening as it moves east into the Atlantic.