Hurricane Idalia gains fury over Gulf of Mexico

Hurricane Idalia is gaining power as the outer bands moved inland overnight.

Transcript

00:00 This morning, Hurricane Idalia barreling towards Florida's Big Bend, expected to make landfall just north of Cedar Key.

00:08 The hurricane strengthening over the Gulf of Mexico, threatening to unleash catastrophic storm surges and rainfall.

00:15 My son's a law enforcement officer and he's encouraging me real bad to leave.

00:20 They have ordered a lot of body bags. They're expecting some fatalities, so I don't want to be one of them. This is scary.

00:32 Governor Ron DeSantis warning people in coastal communities.

00:36 This is going to be something that will leave significant impacts, and particularly in this part of the state.

00:42 Overnight, people in at least 30 Florida counties placed under evacuation orders.

00:47 Residents hunkering down boarded up windows and filled sandbags.

00:52 Tampa Electric securing tens of thousands of workers from more than 20 states as far as Maine to help restore power after the storm.

01:01 5,500 National Guardsmen are also on high alert. Experts say climate change has intensified the storm.

01:08 It's 88, 89 degrees over where the storm's going to be tracking, so that's effectively rocket fuel for the storms.

01:14 President Biden has been in constant contact with Florida officials and will receive a briefing today.

01:20 FEMA is already calling on Congress to approve more funding for disaster response.

01:26 We're watching out closely for those storm surges, which could reach as high as 16 feet in some parts of Florida.

01:32 It adds to the increasing flood threat here and along the coastline.

01:36 EmWyn, ABC News, Tampa.