CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. – Hurricane Idalia is expected to make landfall in Florida’s Big Bend Wednesday morning as a powerful Category 4 storm, bringing a devastating storm surge along with it.
State leaders have warned that the storm surge could reach 15 feet.
“It would wipe a lot of (the community) out,” said one resident of Crystal River in Citrus County. “People’s homes would be gone. Businesses would be gone.”
The area is currently under a mandatory evacuation order.
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Despite that, some people living in the Big Bend area are choosing to ride out the storm in their homes.
News 6 spotted some people fishing as they awaited Idalia.
Idalia strengthened into a category 2 hurricane Tuesday afternoon.
As of Tuesday at 5 p.m., Idalia was about 195 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida, moving north at 16 mph while packing 100 mph winds. Hurricane-force winds extend outward 25 miles from the center, while tropical storm-force winds extend 160 miles from the center of the storm.
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