Tropical Storm Idalia is intensifying and is expected to become a major hurricane before hitting the Gulf of Mexico coast in Florida on Wednesday, impacting millions of people in the US state with potentially deadly storm surges and dangerous hurricane winds as of now. according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
TROPICAL TIBIDTS
Hurricane, tropical storm and thunderstorm warnings have been issued for most of Florida’s west coast as the state pushed for mandatory evacuations and finalized preparations for Idalia’s arrival on Wednesday.
Strong hurricane winds of up to 200 km/h and catastrophic storm surges are expected to hit Florida. Dangerous flash floods are also expected on the west coast of the state, in the socalled Panhandle region of Florida and in southern Georgia.
The waters in the Gulf of Mexico are extremely warm, which could cause Idalia to undergo a rapid intensification process. The NHC forecast currently assumes a category 3 hurricane on the SaffirSimpson scale, ranging up to magnitude 5. However, North American meteorologists do not rule out that, given the excessive warming, Idalia could reach categories 4 or 5 before reaching Florida in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, which would be catastrophic.
Further south, thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in Cuba’s Pinar del Río province due to the proximity of Tropical Storm Idalia, which is expected to develop into a hurricane in the next few hours.
“People have already been evacuated, food processing centers have been set up, the family basket is guaranteed, health brigades and communities are being visited,” said Roberto Morales Ojeda, organizing secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee, in a publication on Twitter.
Cuban President Miguel DíazCanel leaves the country, completing a trip to Angola, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa. According to the local press, around eight thousand people fled their homes to seek refuge with family members and other friends in Pinar del Río, which was hit by powerful Category 3 Hurricane Ian last September, killing at least two people on the island. In the United States, Ian reached Category 5, killing nearly 150 people.
NHC
This Monday, the Cuban civil defense activated the cyclone alert phase for the provinces of Pinar del Río, Artemisa and Isla de la Juventud in the west of the country, while intermittent rain also hit the neighboring cities of Mayabeque and Havana. Local media reported that on Sunday on Isla de la Juventud, rail services from Pinar del Río were suspended and passenger transport by sea was suspended.
In the capital, Havana, residents began taking refuge in their homes, while the embassies of Canada and the United States suspended their working hours on Monday afternoon, reporting on their social media accounts on Tuesday.