The powerful storm, which the National Hurricane Center (NHC) called "an unprecedented event", made landfall shortly after daybreak with 160mph gusts near Keaton Beach on the state's Gulf coast, then rushed north-east towards Georgia and the Carolinas.
It pushed inland a storm surge of up to 16ft (5 metres), submerging the small coastal community of Steinhatchee and setting record high water levels across a wide area stretching 200 miles south to Tampa. An afternoon high tide, heightened by a rare blue "supermoon", threatened more misery.
The hurricane turned deadly, officials said, when a 40-year-old motorist in Pasco county, north of Tampa, lost control of his vehicle and collided with a tree. Idalia was the most powerful storm in recorded history to strike the state's Big Bend region, in west Florida, where the northern part of the peninsula meets the panhandle, and an area dominated more by nature reserves and rural communities than cities.
Denne historien er fra August 31, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian.
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Denne historien er fra August 31, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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