Florida takes stock in Storm Idalia's aftermath

When the rainfall started to get truly bad, Brent Berzett and David Hickmon sought refuge connected their houseboat.

Their floating location successful Hudson, astir an hr northbound of Tampa, surely wasn't the worst spot to hold retired Idalia, a large hurricane that made landfall connected Florida's Big Bend connected Wednesday morning.

"The upwind wasn't excessively bad," Mr Berzett told the BBC connected Wednesday day arsenic they were assessing the harm and mopping up puddles of oversea h2o successful their kitchen.

"The carpet's toast. And immoderate of the furnishings too," helium said.

But they were safe, and their neighbours were OK arsenic well.

Some radical weren't truthful fortunate and person mislaid much arsenic the Category 3 hurricane, with winds up to 125mph (200km/h), barrelled done low-lying towns connected Florida's westbound seashore earlier making its mode inland and into the authorities of Georgia.

The wide harm is inactive being assessed, but up and down the seashore determination is the consciousness that Idalia could person brought overmuch worse destruction.

By Wednesday night, much than 225,000 radical were inactive without powerfulness successful Florida, and different 230,000 were successful the acheronian successful Georgia.

"I've seen radical beryllium successful the acheronian for months aft a hurricane," 1 linesman successful Jacksonville told the BBC.

Up to 40,000 Florida powerfulness workers were connected standby connected Wednesday greeting to determination successful and reconstruct powerfulness erstwhile the tempest passed.

Idalia was downgraded to a tropical tempest arsenic it passed done Georgia, though it inactive brought with it almighty winds and perchance life-threatening weather. Coastal and inland flooding is expected successful parts of Georgia, arsenic good arsenic South Carolina and North Carolina, arsenic the tempest makes its mode on the south-eastern US seashore connected Thursday.

President Joe Biden warned connected Wednesday that the tempest is "still precise dangerous".

Multiple Florida counties are inactive nether evacuation orders arsenic of Wednesday evening.

Emergency absorption officials successful Florida said that Perry, a historical municipality of 7,000 radical southeast of Tallahassee, was 1 of the places that was severely hit.

The hurricane downed powerlines successful the municipality and destroyed stores successful its quaint downtown, wherever aggregate businesses had caught fire. One video showed the extortion of a state presumption get knocked implicit amid the torrential downpour and almighty winds.

Cedar Key is different municipality that was severely deed by Idalia, experiencing an astir 9ft (2.7m) tempest surge.

Officials said Idalia is the strongest tempest to deed this portion of Florida successful much than 100 years.

There are nary confirmed fatalities from the storm, but Florida Highway Patrol has reported that 2 men died successful car crashes caused by rainy conditions.

The tempest was felt by the household of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whose wife, Casey, wrote connected societal media that a 100-year-old oak histrion fell connected the couple's Tallahassee mansion portion she and their 3 children were inside.

"Thankfully nary 1 was injured," Casey wrote.

Earlier connected Wednesday successful Hudson, sheriffs and occurrence officials utilized boats and ample vehicles to rescue dozens of radical who had ignored the mandatory evacuation directive from floodwaters.

"Unfortunately radical person their lifelong belongings, and immoderate would alternatively upwind the storm," said Pasco County Fire Chief Tony Perez told the BBC.

Resident Dan Montey climbed retired of 1 rescue conveyance with his woman Sherri.

"We were warned past clip and it didn't come, truthful this clip we thought we'd hold it out," helium said. "Well, present we are."

The odor of fume from location fires lingered on the roads successful Hudson and region sheriffs readied boats to plunge into the floodwaters.

But a feared tempest surge didn't materialise on this agelong of coast, and wrong hours immoderate residents were wading done what small h2o remained successful bid to measure the damage.

The representation was antithetic further to the north.

In the coastal municipality of Weeki Watchi, successful Hernando County, Daniel'e Junggust fears she mislaid everything.

She was pouring acold beers for the regulars astatine Tailgators bar, anxious astir the harm to her ground-floor flat conscionable down the road. She hadn't yet been capable to cheque successful aft spending the nighttime with her parent inland, but she heard that the h2o had risen astir 7ft oregon 8ft - capable to ruin everything inside.

"I tried to get arsenic overmuch retired beforehand arsenic I perchance could," she said.

In Hudson, Mr Berzett and Mr Hickmon made their mode implicit their sodden carpet and kept the powerfulness to their location switched disconnected arsenic they tried to adust it out.

They moved from Iowa 9 years ago, and they've noticed the storms person changed successful that time.

"They conscionable look to beryllium getting worse," Mr Berzett said.

It's a usually beauteous agelong of coastline and jobs and household support them successful the area, but arsenic they mopped up, they were having 2nd thoughts astir their Florida home.

"If I had my way," Mr Hickmon said, "I'd astir apt beryllium backmost successful the Midwest."