The clock is ticking to get final preps underway. All across Florida millions of people trying to get ready before the storm hits. Idalia now in the southern Gulf of Mexico churning there going to intensify to likely a Category 3 before it makes landfall Wednesday morning.
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00:00 Florida's Gulf Coast is bracing for Hurricane Adalia.
00:04 All flights to Tampa International Airport were canceled
00:07 as Adalia barrels toward the city.
00:09 So far, that's the only major airport
00:11 significantly affected by the storm,
00:14 which strengthened into a hurricane overnight.
00:16 According to FlightAware, Southwest Airlines
00:19 has the most affected flights.
00:21 Several airlines, including Delta, Southwest,
00:23 JetBlue, and United, issued advisories
00:26 to passengers traveling in Adalia's path.
00:28 United also added additional flights
00:30 from Orlando and Sarasota to its hubs
00:33 to help people leave the area.
00:35 Passengers can make changes for free
00:37 within an allotted time.
00:39 Amtrak is also canceling several trains
00:42 and modifying routes in advance of Adalia
00:44 as a safety precaution.
00:45 This is a major hurricane
00:48 with the National Weather Service saying
00:50 this is unlike anything that Western Florida has ever seen.
00:54 Meanwhile, cities and residents say
00:56 they're sparing no time to get ready.
00:59 I don't think it can be said enough,
01:01 hide from wind, run from water.
01:04 Hurricane Adalia gaining strength in the Gulf of Mexico
01:07 as it speeds through some of the warmest waters on Earth.
01:10 That same storm unleashed its wrath on Cuba on Tuesday.
01:14 But it's just a snapshot
01:17 of what's heading towards Florida's Big Bend
01:20 with the Apalachee Bay bracing for an unprecedented storm.
01:24 So they're saying this is supposed to be a category three
01:26 when it hits land.
01:27 We're in trouble.
01:30 We're in trouble.
01:31 From coast to coast,
01:32 Florida schools and airports are shuttered for days.
01:36 Grocery stores wiped bare of essentials.
01:40 Adalia expected to slam Western Florida
01:42 early Wednesday morning as a category three storm,
01:45 packing winds up to 120 miles per hour.
01:49 Officials warn the storm surge could be deadly
01:52 as waters in some areas could swell 10 to 15 feet high.
01:57 It's why Jacksonville resident, Trahalia Thomas,
02:00 says most of his neighbors are heading for the shelters.
02:03 All the houses around there,
02:04 like I was telling you from Kittnight right there,
02:07 all the way around to Moncrieff, it gets flooded.
02:11 I mean, flooded.
02:12 Emergency responders say they're ready.
02:15 We have urban search and rescue teams
02:18 that are on standby to support the state
02:19 with any life-saving needs that they have.
02:22 We have the Army Corps of Engineers
02:23 ready to support any power generation missions
02:25 that they might need.
02:27 The National Weather Service tweeting,
02:28 "No major hurricane has ever hit Florida's Big Bend
02:33 "in recorded history."
02:34 Residents aren't taking any chances,
02:38 lugging sandbags and preparing their homes
02:40 in the midst of a suffocating heat advisory.
02:44 Unlike some cities,
02:45 Jacksonville city officials aren't passing out sandbags,
02:48 with Mayor Donna Deegan saying
02:50 they could hurt more than help.
02:52 Science simply does not support that they are helpful
02:56 as much as they may cause water to remain in a place.
02:59 Mr. Thomas says his neighborhood
03:01 is taking the matter into its own hands,
03:03 and they're ready too.
03:05 We look out for one another.
03:06 Like the flood, all that's gonna be down there,
03:09 we're gonna, Mr. Atty, we call him the male
03:12 of Kittnight down there by the park.
03:14 He usually had a sandbag,
03:16 and we get the sand and everybody fill up bags
03:18 and put them on everybody's doorsteps.
03:20 We're gonna be doing that in a little bit.
03:22 The message to people in low-lying coastal areas,
03:25 get out.
03:26 Mandatory evacuations in dozens of counties are underway.
03:30 Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency
03:33 for most Florida counties,
03:35 and the National Guard is readying thousands
03:38 of mobility and rescue vehicles for the long days ahead.
03:42 Tami Eswick, Scripps News, Jacksonville, Florida.