Power outages blanketed parts of northern Florida as Hurricane Idalia made landfall in the Florida Big Bend as a Category 3 storm around 7:45 a.m. ET Wednesday.
Maximum sustained winds were estimated to be about 125 mph during landfall, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Catastrophic storm surge was washing over the Big Bend coast while damaging winds were spreading inland over northern Florida, the National Hurricane Center said in its morning update.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 49 of the state’s 67 counties across the northern half of the state from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic Coast.
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The National Weather Service described the storm as an “unprecedented event,” saying no major hurricane − Category 3 or higher − had ever slammed the Big Bend’s Apalachee Bay.
Stay up to date with power outages across the state with our USA TODAY’s power outage map.
LIVE UPDATES:‘Catastrophic’ storm surge possible as Hurricane Idalia nears Florida landfall
POWER OUTAGE MAP:See Naples, Collier County power outage map as Hurricane Idalia impacts Florida
Florida power outage map
As of 2 p.m. ET, there were over 270,000 reported power outages in Florida, mostly in the northern part of the state, according to USA TODAY’s power outage tracking database.
Leon County had over 40,000 reported outages while Columbia County had over 23,000 reported outages. Over 95% of customers in Suwanee County (over 23,000) were without power in Suwannee County.
Wakulla County, Florida power outage map
Leon County, Florida power outage map
Suwannee County, Florida power outage map
Columbia County, Florida power outage map
Pinellas County, Florida power outage map
Contributing: John Bacon & Christopher Cann, USA TODAY
