by Isabel Keane at New York Post
Hurricane Idalia made landfall early Wednesday in Florida as a deadly Category 3 hurricane, promising to unleash “life-threatening” storm surges and damaging winds in the strongest storm to hit the area in more than 125 years.
Idalia had briefly been categorized as a Category 4 storm before winds tapered off to 125 mph as it made landfall at 7:45 a.m. near Keaton Beach in Taylor County.
“This change in wind speed does not diminish the threat of catastrophic storm surge and damaging winds,” the National Hurrican Center had cautioned, with two Florida men soon confirmed as having been killed in storm-related incidents.
It was the strongest hurricane to hit the Big Bend area since an unnamed storm in 1896, according to the Fox Forecast Center, with several cities seeing widespread flooding at record water levels.
By 11 a.m., Idalia had been downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane — still with “damaging” 90-mph winds — as the eye moved into southern Georgia.
“Dangerous storm surge is also expected along the southeastern US coast within the Storm Surge Warning area tonight and Thursday,” the National Hurricane Center warned…
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