Hurricane Idalia rages on towards the US state of South Carolina, many people without power | Weather news

The tropical storm still has wind speeds of around 110 kilometers per hour. The storm caused major power outages in the states of Florida and Georgia. According to the breakdown site PowerOutage.us, around 460,000 customers are without electricity there. Thousands of buildings have also been damaged CNN.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says one person’s death is being investigated to determine if it is related to the storm, but no other casualties have been reported.

Just before Idalia made landfall in Florida on Wednesday morning, it was still a Category 4 hurricane, with wind speeds of over 200 kilometers per hour measured. The hurricane then weakened quickly and is now near South Carolina.

Idalia made landfall in sparsely populated Taylor County, Florida, around 7:45 a.m. local time on Wednesday. It was a Category 4 hurricane at the time. Coastal towns experienced flooding and strong winds knocked down trees. Governor Ron DeSantis urged his state’s residents to be careful and not take any risks. During his press conference in the city of Tallahassee, the lights flashed momentarily.

The weather services already assumed that Idalia would quickly decrease in strength over land. This is partly due to an eyewall-replacement cycle, which means that a new eye is formed in the hurricane, which therefore slightly decreases in strength. The warm seawater of the Gulf of Mexico is the main source of nutrition for the storm.

On Wednesday evening, the hurricane, which moved from Florida to southern Georgia, was downgraded to Category I. Warnings continued for extreme flooding, very strong wind gusts and storm surges. American airlines canceled about 1,000 flights. Nearly 800 flights were delayed.

Authorities warned during the day that the strong winds and flooding could be life-threatening. In Pasco County, a 40-year-old motorist was already killed on Wednesday morning after he lost control of the wheel and crashed into a tree. Also in Alachua County, a 59-year-old male driver crashed into a tree in “extremely rainy conditions.” He died of his injuries.

Some 130,000 Florida homes were without power early Wednesday morning, according to American media. The National Guard in Florida has announced a “full mobilization” because of the storm. Thousands of troops are deployed to help.

“Very few people can survive a storm surge and this storm will be deadly if we don’t get out and take the storm seriously,” Deanne Criswell, chief of the Federal Emergency Response Agency (FEMA), said earlier. According to this service, the greatest danger came from the water.

Through Thursday, the Gulf Coast of Florida and the states of Georgia and North and South Carolina can experience torrential rain with 100 to 200 millimeters falling. In some areas, as much as 300 millimeters could fall, according to the NHC.

Idalia is the eighth major hurricane (as of Category 3) to make landfall in the United States since 2017. Earlier this week, Idalia already hit Cuba with flooding in the capital Havana and a power outage as a result.

In response to the disruptive hurricane on Wednesday evening, President Biden stated that “no one can deny the impact of the climate crisis any longer.”