Hurricane Idalia Slams Into FL's Big Bend: 'Unprecedented Event'

CEDAR KEY, FL — Hurricane Idalia slammed into Florida's Big Bend region early Wednesday as a strong Category 3 storm, bringing life-threatening storm surge, rainfall and damaging winds to an area that's never experienced such an event.

Idalia came ashore in the lightly populated area where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula. It made landfall near Keaton Beach at 7:45 a.m.

More than an hour later, it remained a Category 2 hurricane with top winds of 110 mph. It was expected to remain a hurricane while crossing Florida and Georgia before the National Hurricane Center downgraded it to a tropical storm shortly before 5 p.m.

The National Weather Service in Tallahassee called Idalia "an unprecedented event" since no major hurricanes on record have ever passed through the bay abutting the Big Bend.

More than 270,000 customers were without electricity by 2 p.m. Wednesday as trees snapped by strong winds brought down power lines.

Along the coast, some homes were submerged to near their rooftops and structures crumpled. As the eye moved inland, destructive winds shredded signs and sent sheet metal flying.

Video and photos shared on the City of Cedar Key's Facebook page showed debris littering roads, trees blocking roads and storm surge enveloping roads.

"We are being ravaged," the city wrote on social media.

Cedar Key Fire Rescue also issued a warning. "We have multiple trees down, debris in the roads, do not come," the agency wrote.

A 40-year-old man in Florida, whose name has not been publicly identified, died in Pasco County early Wednesday morning, after losing control of his vehicle while driving in the hurricane, according to an NBC News report citing the Florida Highway Patrol.

Florida Highway Patrol troopers said a 59-year-old man from Gainesville, Florida, was also killed on Wednesday after veering into a ditch and hitting a tree while driving, ABC affiliate WCJR reported.

At a 12:30 p.m. briefing, Gov. Ron DeSantis said those deaths can't officially be attributed to the storm until authorities and medical examiners weigh in.

A community hit hard by Idalia was the small town of Perry. Some businesses caught fire and others lost their roofs, according to a South Florida Sun Sentinel report.

"Right now we know we have a couple businesses that have caught on fire,” said Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, according to the Sun Sentinel. A few “had roofs knocked off of them, potentially one collapse. But we do have crews that there working hand-in-hand with Taylor County Sheriff’s Office and Taylor County Fire Rescue."

Guthrie said Perry appeared to be hardest hit, the Sun Sentinel reported.

Meanwhile, reports trickled in from Florida's capital city of Tallahassee, where tens of thousands were without power Wednesday. The city reported a downed tree and a severed gas line prompted an evacuation in one neighborhood, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

During a Wednesday briefing, DeSantis said a tree fell at the governor's mansion during the storm. No one was injured.

Meanwhile, AccuWeather Meteorologist and Storm Chaster Tony Laubach was navigating a section of Interstate 10 east of Tallahassee when he encountered an area almost entirely blocked by a large tree that had blown over during the hurricane. Laubach also reported snapped trees in Lee, Florida, where Idalia's eye tracked overhead earlier Wednesday, according to Accuweather.

At 8:30 a.m., a river gauge in Steinhatchee recorded water levels rise by 7 feet in one hour as storm surge moved in, according to the National Weather Service in Tallahassee. Forecasters previously said storm surge could rise as high as 16 feet in some places.

"When we say the storm surge threat would increase rapidly, this is what we meant," the National Weather Service said.

Because of the unique shape of the Big Bend coastline, Idalia "is going to bring some pretty massive storm surge," according to University at Albany atmospheric scientist Kristen Corbosiero. "The water can get piled up in that bay. And then the winds of the storm come around, they go around counter-clockwise, that's going the same direction, the same shape of the bay so that water can just get pushed in there."

Diane Flowers was sound asleep at 1 a.m. Wednesday in her Wakulla County home, but her husband was up watching the weather on TV and got a text from their son when the storm was upgraded to a Category 4. He's a firefighter and EMT in Franklin County, along the Gulf Coast.

"He said, 'You guys need to leave,'" Flowers said. "And he's not one for overreacting, so when he told us to leave, we just packed our stuff, got in our car and got going."

But not everyone left.

Andy Bair, owner of the Island Hotel on Cedar Key, told The Associated Press he intended to "babysit" his bed-and-breakfast, which predates the Civil War. The building has not flooded in the almost 20 years he has owned it, not even when Hurricane Hermine flooded the city in 2016.

"Being a caretaker of the oldest building in Cedar Key, I just feel kind of like I need to be here," Bair said. "We've proven time and again that we're not going to wash away. We may be a little uncomfortable for a couple of days, but we'll be OK eventually."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.