Pictures reveal the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Idalia | US News

Images have revealed the destruction Hurricane Idalia left behind as homes and businesses have been reduced to rubble.

The hurricane, which hit Florida’s Gulf Coast yesterday, brought in winds of up to 125 miles per hour along with torrential rain.

Seawater off of Keaton Beach was pushed inland for miles, flooding communities and roads.

It is considered the potentially most lethal hazard posed by a major hurricane.

Images show destroyed homes tipped into flood water, with residents sitting on their furniture thrown by the strong winds.

Damaged vehicles can also be seen, with a petrol station knocked onto one side.

No deaths have been reported.

National Guard troops pulled stranded motorists to safety from their vehicles in Taylor and Hernando counties, while emergency teams rescued people in St. Petersburg, about 200 miles south of the landfall zone.

Power outages are widespread, as utility poles and power lines were all damaged as the hurricane made landfall.

As many as 565,000 utility customers across the state had lost electricity at some point during and after the storm.

By nightfall, authorities were still trying to assess the full extent of damage.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the storm was less lethal than Hurricane Ian which struck in September 2022, killing 150 people.

‘The bad news type calls we were accustomed to during Ian, those were not happening during this storm,’ he said.

But state authorities are investigating one unconfirmed storm-related traffic death.

DeSantis added most residents had followed evacuation orders and moved to higher ground.

Feeding on the warm, open waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Idalia quickly gained strength as it churned toward Florida after skirting the western tip of Cuba on Monday as a tropical storm.

Idalia reached hurricane strength on Tuesday and attained Category 4 intensity on the five-step Saffir-Simpson wind scale early Wednesday before landfall, but by 7 a.m. had weakened into Category 3, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

As it entered southeastern Georgia, Idalia’s wind speeds ebbed to 90 mph, reducing the tempest to Category 1. By 5 p.m. EDT, it weakened further into a tropical storm, the NHC reported.

One non-human casualty of the storm in Florida was a century-old oak tree that toppled onto the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee.

A post on the X social media platform by Florida first lady Casey DeSantis showed the giant tree split in two, with one half appearing to have fallen atop the white-pillared residence.

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