:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/grupoclarin/4MIGZXY37BBZPN24WC5E3FO4GM.jpg "Idalia could hit Florida as a Category 4 hurricane with “catastrophic” storm surge")
CEDAR KEY, Fla. (AP) — Idalia strengthened into a dangerous Category 3 hurricane Wednesday as it approached the Big Bend region of Florida, threatening to bring life-threatening storm surges and heavy rains. .
Idalia is expected to make landfall early Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane, with sustained winds of at least 130 mph (209 km/h), in the sparsely populated Big Bend region of northwestern Florida, where the area known as the Panhandle curves towards the peninsula. The result could be a major blow to a state still grappling with damage from Hurricane Ian a year ago.
The National Weather Service in Tallahassee said Idalia was “an unprecedented event” as there are no records of a major hurricane ever passing through Big Bend Bay before.
Hurricanes are measured on a scale of five levels, with the fifth being the most powerful. Category 3 is the first on the scale considered a hurricane of great intensity. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) says that during a Category 4 storm “catastrophic damage will occur.”