Massive tree falls on Governor’s Mansion while DeSantis family was home, no injuries

Eric Daugherty contributed to this report.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – A 100 year-old massive oak tree fell on the Florida Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee due to Hurricane Idalia while the DeSantis family was inside. Nobody was injured.

First Lady Casey DeSantis shared a photo of the large tree on the Governor’s Mansion and said her and her three children were inside.

DeSantis said the first lady called him after the tree fell and told him the tree split in half. He said he doesn’t know if it fell on the residence and he thinks it was “a little bit off to the side.”

“I don’t know if they’re gonna have to cut down the whole tree,” he said.

“If they do cut down the whole tree, that’s just gonna be more room for my kids to hit baseballs in and so in some respects for us, even though the tree was nice, we’ll probably make do and just be quite alright.”

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.

The storm has begun to clear parts of Florida as of late Wednesday morning. Florida authorities warned residents to not visit impacted areas unless directed by officials that it is safe to do so, unless you must return home, are a first responder or a registered volunteer.

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.

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.

For live updates of Hurricane Idalia, click here.