Idalia disaster met with trailers for homeless, meal pods and 476K power restorations

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis has continued providing updates and touted the state’s overwhelming preparedness in response to Hurricane Idalia days after it rammed into the Big Bend.

Florida authorities warned residents to not visit impacted areas unless directed by officials it’s safe to do so. You must return home unless you are a first responder or a registered volunteer.

Recovery: days after landfall

Friday morning, around 48 hours after landfall, DeSantis delivered another update on recovery efforts. 

DeSantis applauded how 476,000 customers have had their power restored thus far. Friday afternoon, outages dipped below 90,000.

By Thursday afternoon, more than 420,000 customers had their power restored.

In a Friday morning press conference, Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez highlighted how 58 school districts were open in the state, along with 10 of 12 universities and 26 of 28 state colleges.

Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said the disaster response teams were providing five trailers for people who have lost their homes, due to the hurricane.

He mentioned that it took six months to get trailers for Hurricane Ian, but people in the area of Horseshoe Beach will now receive shelter in less than 48 hours.

Additionally, Guthrie reported that nine meal pods were open in the most critical counties in the big bend. During the hurricane recovery, 2,100 vehicles have visited these pods and more than 48,000 liters of water have been distributed.

Shevaun Harris, the secretary of Florida’s Department of Children and Families, mentioned that Family Resource Centers have been opened up in Madison, Taylor and Suwanee Counties.

The governor also celebrated Thursday that a majority of roadways and all state bridges have been cleared and deemed safe to travel across, which happened within 12 hours of the storm making landfall.

Speaking in Steinhatchee Thursday afternoon, DeSantis said there is thus far one confirmed fatality from a traffic incident, but none due to Idalia’s direct damage and storm surge. No update was provided Friday on this matter. 

The governor praised residents for taking proper precautions by evacuating away from storm surge-vulnerable areas, such surge being a prime fatal danger during hurricanes.

He and First Lady Casey DeSantis reiterated that the Florida Disaster Fund will be utilized to help communities impacted, especially damages and needs that might not fall under traditional relief and recovery means with the state or federal government.

Guthrie reminded Floridians to take pictures and video of all damage before beginning to clear and clean up.

Threat of looting

DeSantis declared Wednesday afternoon at a press conference that potential looters might face the response of vehemently pro-2nd Amendment Floridians in the Big Bend and Panhandle.

“You never know what you’re walking into,” he said. “This part of Florida – you got a lot of advocates and proponents of the 2nd Amendment […] ‘You loot, we shoot.’”

Power outage tracking: how quickly can it be restored?

Tens of thousands of linemen that were staged prior to the storm are still actively restoring power. 

The governor reported on Friday morning that Duke Energy expects 95% of its customers’ power will be restored by Friday night in Alachua, Dixie, Gilchrist, Jefferson, Lafayette, Levy and Suwannee counties.

Additionally, 95% of the company’s customers in Taylor and Jefferson counties will have power by Saturday, while the same number in Hamilton and Madison counties will gain it by Sunday.

As of Wednesday afternoon, more than a quarter million households and businesses were without power.

So far, power outages have peaked at around 281,000 statewide at any one given time, though a total of nearly half-a-million lost power overall.

As of late Wednesday afternoon, the tally sat at around 278,000. Wednesday night, customers without power totaled around 174,000. Outages declined to around 117,000 as of Thursday afternoon, representing a huge amount of customers being restored since the storm impacted Florida.

The Big Bend region of Florida is hardest hit with power outages, with counties having seen 70% or more without electricity.

DeSantis mentioned earlier Wednesday morning, just before landfall, that tens of thousands of Floridians had already had their power restored.

Early stages of recovery

DeSantis said Wednesday afternoon at a press briefing that various types of recovery teams are entering impacted areas to begin operations like rescues, debris removal and power restoration.

He announced that already, around 262,000 accounts have had their power restored.

He announced that road clearings are making good headway, with roads not being as bad as he expected. DeSantis said the new Florida State Guard is playing an “important” role in assisting assessments and recovery.

Despite teams springing into action, DeSantis noted that just as Hurricane Ian recovery was, communities will require “months” to be back to anywhere near 100%.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said search and rescue teams from out-of-state are en route to impacted areas as of late Wednesday morning.

With some of the worst parts of Hurricane Idalia clearing portions of Florida, National Guardsman in Tarpon Springs began transporting firefighters into flooded zones to begin recovery efforts.

DeSantis kicked his Wednesday’s response and recovery at 4 a.m., participating in at least 20 meetings or calls through 10 a.m.

Scenes, damage, flooding

Hurricane Idalia made landfall as a strong Category 3 storm at around 7:45 a.m. Wednesday morning near Keaton Beach.

The storm’s general landfall location was in line with forecasts. It weakened from a Category 4 just before landfall. Idalia was weakened to a tropical storm late Wednesday afternoon.

Cedar Key Fire Rescue released images of their town heavily damaged and flooded from the storm.

Boats were seen being propelled by storm surge into a bridge, losing their masts, in Steinhatchee.

Early Wednesday morning, storm surge overtook a large portion of Horseshoe Beach.

Cedar Key also was host to devastating storm surge.

The eye wall traveled through portions of the Big Bend Wednesday morning, making its way towards Georgia.

Late Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, powerful bands of the storm caused flooding in the Tampa Bay area.

St. Petersburg police said the area’s pier is closed due to flooding as of Wednesday morning.

As forecasted, Idalia brought dangerous wind and rain conditions.