Important Takeaways:
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned potential thieves that anyone who tries to loot amid the chaos of Hurricane Idalia will have to face severe consequences.
- “You loot, we shoot,” Ron said during a recent press conference, according to New York Post.
- “People have a right to defend their property. This part of Florida, you got a lot of advocates and proponents of the Second Amendment
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Important Takeaways:
- The eye of Idalia roared ashore early Wednesday morning with the storm making landfall near Keaton Beach, Florida, at 7:45 a.m. EDT. Maximum sustained winds were 125 mph at the time of landfall, making it a Category 3.
- Idalia lost some wind intensity on its final approach, with maximum sustained winds peaking at 130 mph late Tuesday night, the minimum wind speed required to be classified as a Category 4.
- The number of power outages is creeping upward with nearly 66,000 outages as of 6:25 a.m. EDT Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us. This number is up from 44,000 from two hours prior, and outages are expected to climb throughout Wednesday as Idalia makes landfall and moves inland.
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Important Takeaways:
- Eyewall of monster CAT-3 Hurricane Idalia batters Florida’s Big Bend as 16ft storm surge floods homes and leaves more than 200,000 without power: Thousands flee north
- It’s the strongest storm to make landfall in the Big Bend region in 127 years, matching an unnamed hurricane in 1896.
- Idalia surged to a Category 4 storm in the early hours because of warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, reaching speeds of up to 156mph – before dropping to 125mph shortly after 7am.
- The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) has warned of catastrophic storm surges of up to 12 to 16 feet in the worst affected areas.
- St Petersburg Police shared a video of the level of flooding which was sweeping away homes at a mobile trailer park, and confirmed they had already rescued one person by 6:50am.
- Hurricane Idalia has been branded ‘an unprecedented event’ by the National Weather Service in Tallahassee.
- Idalia could spawn tornadoes as far south as Tampa and Sarasota, east to Jacksonville and north to the Georgia coast later today.
- During a press conference on Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis warned ‘don’t mess with this storm’ as the power briefly went out from his headquarters.
- He added that there have been 11 tornado warnings issued, saying: ‘It’s going to be a significant, significant impact.’
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Important Takeaways:
- Idalia could be strongest storm to hit the Florida Big Bend for a CENTURY as it officially becomes a hurricane: 14 MILLION are placed under severe weather warnings ahead of 150mph winds and 12ft storm surge
- Hurricane Idalia is due to hit Florida in the night to Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane
- The growing intensity of the storm is causing experts to predict a storm surge as high as 12 feet, with winds potentially reaching 150mph
- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has warned Floridians to ‘buckle up’ during a news conference
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Important Takeaways:
- Hurricane Warning in effect as AccuWeather warns Idalia will undergo explosive strengthening ahead of Florida landfall
- AccuWeather hurricane experts say the storm will rapidly intensify into a powerful major hurricane over the eastern Gulf of Mexico before making landfall in the state’s Big Bend area of the coast.
- An ‘extreme’ risk for impacts is now in place for a portion of the Sunshine State, centered around the region bridging the Gulf coasts of the panhandle and peninsula. This area will be most at risk for life-threatening storm surge flooding, damaging winds and torrential rain as Hurricane Idalia approaches on Wednesday morning.
- Officials issued mandatory evacuation orders on Monday for parts of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties in Florida due to life-threatening conditions anticipated
- Given the risk for rapid intensification, an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 155 mph is possible near landfall near the panhandle and Big Bend of Florida. AccuWeather hurricane experts are forecasting Idalia to come ashore as a major hurricane, with Category 3 level winds (111 to 129 mph) on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
- It’s not out of the question that some portions of Tampa Bay could have a storm surge of 7 or 8 feet, according to AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski. The greatest storm surge, perhaps as high as 10-15 feet, is expected near and just to the southeast of Idalia’s landfall.
- Where the most intense rainfall occurs, rainfall totals can approach an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 18 inches, which would lead to major, life-threatening flooding, since most of the rain will fall over the span of 12 hours or less.
- “Tornadoes can also occur to the east of the center of the circulation as it moves across Florida”
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Important Takeaways:
- Tropical Storm Idalia update: Florida declares state of emergency as storm is expected to make landfall as Category 2 hurricane with 100mph winds and 11ft storm surges
- A state of emergency has been declared in more than 30 Florida counties as Tropical Storm Idalia is expected to barrel into the coast as a Category 2 hurricane on Wednesday – with forecasters warning of storm surges, landslides and mass power outages.
- Idalia looks set to develop into a hurricane on Tuesday in the Gulf of Mexico and then curve northeast toward the west coast of Florida, where it could make landfall with winds of up to 100mph.
- Along a vast stretch of Florida’s west coast, up to 11 feet of ocean water could surge onshore, raising fears of destructive flooding.
- DeSantis’ declaration covers the Gulf coast from the southwestern city of Fort Myers north through Panama City in the Panhandle.
- Thirty-three of the state’s 67 counties are covered in the declaration.
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Important Takeaways:
- Florida could be in sights of tropical system brewing, hurricane center says
- A tropical depression or storm has a high chance of forming from a system moving north toward the Gulf of Mexico with the potential to hit Florida, the National Hurricane Center said.
- “I’ve directed @KevinGuthrieFL & the FL Emergency Management team to prepare for a potential tropical system currently moving across the Yucatán Peninsula,” Gov. Ron DeSantis posted on X on Thursday night. “Residents should remain vigilant and prepare for possible impacts early next week.”
- “Environmental conditions appear conducive for gradual development of this system during the next several days, and a tropical depression is likely to form late this weekend or early next week while moving generally northward over the northwestern Caribbean Sea and eastern Gulf of Mexico,” forecasters said.
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Important Takeaways:
- At its July 19 meeting, amid heated discussion about Black history and personal pronouns, the State Board of Education took a little noted step requiring schools to use a student’s given legal name unless parents give written permission otherwise.
- As families started to fill out myriad permission slips, for everything from media releases to library usage, that form asking if it would be OK to call children by something other than their given name popped up throughout the state.
- Some district officials told teachers one way to avoid the issue — along with the related matter of personal pronouns and titles — would be to call students by their last names.
- They also noted that no one could be required to call a transgender student by different pronouns even if their parents authorized the use of a different name.
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The American Heritage Dictionary “plagues”
1. A highly infectious, usually fatal, epidemic disease; a pestilence.
2. A virulent, infectious disease that is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (syn. Pasteurella pestis) and is transmitted primarily by the bite of fleas from an infected rodent, especially a rat. In humans it occurs in bubonic form, marked by lymph node enlargement, and in pneumonic form, marked by infection of the lungs, and can progress to septicemia.
3. A widespread affliction or calamity seen as divine retribution.
Important Takeaways:
- Florida is experiencing an increase in LEPROSY cases with nearly 20% of cases across the country coming from the center of the state
- Florida has seen a huge surge in leprosy cases, with rising evidence suggesting the disease is becoming endemic in the southeastern United States.
- Leprosy, which is scientifically known as Hansen’s disease, is a chronic infectious disease that primarily affects the skin and peripheral nervous system.
- The number of reported leprosy cases in the southeastern states has more than doubled over the past decade, according to the CDC.
- It added that leprosy has been historically uncommon in the United States; with the incidence rate peaking around 1983, and a drastic reduction in the annual number of documented cases occurring from the 1980s through to 2000.
- Leprosy is a disease caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae.
- The illness is renowned for being extremely slow to develop. The bacteria reproduce slowly and people may not develop symptoms for decades after being exposed.
- The average time is around five years, but some people may not develop signs for more than 20 years after coming into contact with the bacteria.
- Symptoms of leprosy include patches of discolored skin, numbness, muscle weakness, eye problems, a blocked nose and nosebleeds and ulcers on the soles of the feet.
- Leprosy was historically thought to have been a contagious skin disease which led to societies banishing victims to colonies, but scientists now believe the illness spreads – slowly – if people inhale bacteria.
- The illness can cause progressive nerve damage, weakness and the breakdown of limbs, flesh and facial features if left untreated, but antibiotics can now clear it up.
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Important Takeaways:
- Florida sea may have set world record after hitting hot tub levels and topping 100F two days in a row
- The water temperature at the tip of Florida may have set a world record after it hit hot tub levels and exceeded 100F for two days in a row.
- Meteorologists said it could potentially be the hottest seawater ever measured, although there are some issues with the reading.
- Just 26 miles away, scientists have seen devastating effects from prolonged hot water surrounding Florida – devastating coral bleaching and even some death in what had been one of the Florida Keys’ most resilient reefs.
- Weather records for sea water temperature are unofficial, and there are certain conditions in this reading that could disqualify it for a top mark, meteorologists said.
- But the initial reading on a buoy at Manatee Bay hit 101.1F (38.4C) on Monday evening, according to National Weather Service meteorologist George Rizzuto.
- On Sunday night the same buoy showed an online reading of 100.2F (37.9C).
- ‘It seems plausible,’ Mr Rizzuto said. ‘That is a potential record.’
- It comes as the Sunshine State continues to swelter through the hottest summer on record.
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