Schools and colleges are canceling classes, while Tampa International Airport and several parks and museums have announced temporary closures this week as Hurricane Idalia approaches Florida.
Topline
Residents across Florida’s Gulf Coast have been issued evacuation orders, while schools, colleges and museums will shut down as Hurricane Idalia—now a Category 2 hurricane—approaches the Sunshine State as the first Atlantic hurricane projected to make landfall in the U.S. this season, following a stunningly similar path as Hurricane Ian just 11 months ago—Florida’s deadliest hurricane in nearly 90 years.Key Facts
Mandatory evacuation orders are in place in Citrus County, Florida, just north of Tampa, where all residents living along the coast were told to leave immediately, as well as coastal areas and mobile homes in Dixie County (west of Gainesville) and the barrier islands and low-lying areas in Franklin County (outside Tallahassee).
Residents in parts of Florida’s Gulf County, Manatee County and Hillsborough County—which includes the city of Tampa—were also given mandatory evacuation orders along coastal areas, while mandatory evacuation orders are also in place for residents in mobile homes and other “structurally compromised housing” in Lafayette and Levy counties (outside Gainesville).
Pasco County, Suwannee County, Taylor County and Pinellas County—which includes the cities of Clearwater and St. Petersburg—were also issued mandatory evacuation orders along the coast, while voluntary evacuation orders are in place in nearly a dozen more counties.
Airlines have canceled nearly 630 flights scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday into and out of Tampa International Airport, and nearly another 100 in and out of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, according to flight tracking site FlightAware—Tampa International Airport shut down for commercial travel at midnight Monday night and halted private and cargo flights at 7 a.
