Is Publix Open? Some FL Stores Closed, Opening Late Wednesday

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Many Publix stores in Florida are closed Wednesday as Hurricane Idalia pummels the state.

As of 11:30 a.m., Publix's status page showed most locations in Leon, Wakulla, Suwanee and Columbia counties as closed Wednesday. According to the grocer's website, stores in those counties plan to reopen at 7 a.m. Thursday.

Stores in several other counties were opening late Wednesday. Stores in Alachua planned to reopen at 2 p.m., while stores in Marion, Citrus and Hernando counties were opening at noon.

in the St. Petersburg and Tampa areas, Publix stores closed early Tuesday as Florida residents continued preparations for Idalia, according to the grocer's website. Stores in those areas reopened at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

"We’re closely monitoring Hurricane Idalia and its impact to our operating areas," the company said in a statement released at 4:20 p.m. "Please be aware that stores in the affected area will be adjusting their hours for the storm."

The company provided a map on its website to check hours according to store.

Idalia came ashore in the lightly populated Big Bend region, where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula. After reaching Category 4 status, it made landfall near Keaton Beach at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday as a high-end Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph.

More than an hour later, it remained a Category 2 hurricane with top winds of 110 mph, and it was expected to remain a hurricane while crossing Florida and Georgia before punishing the Carolinas as a tropical storm.

• RELATED: Hurricane Idalia Landfall: Tampa Bay Flooding, 2 Deaths Reported