Aug. 29 (UPI) — Scores of businesses and entities in western Florida announced they were closing as Hurricane Idalia moved closer to Florida’s west coast in what forecasters believe will be a major hurricane.
Gov. Ron DeSantis gave a briefing Tuesday morning as the storm approached while state officials called on residents to obey evacuation orders.
Hernando County, the St. Petersburg-Clearwater-Tampa metropolitan area, was given a mandatory evacuation order Tuesday morning.
“If you have to evacuate, please do so,” urged county emergency management director David DeCarlo. “If you choose to stay on Hernando Beach, Pine Island, Aripeka — there’s going to be a chance we’re not going to be able to get you at a certain point for rescue.”
AdventHealth said it would evacuate its hospital in Tarpon Springs, less than two miles from the Gulf of Mexico, on Tuesday ahead of Hurricane Idalia, moving patients, and relocating more than 60 patients to other hospitals by noon.
“Given our location and proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, along with the projected storm surge of 5-7 feet and mandatory evacuation orders, we are evacuating our AdventHealth North Pinellas hospital in Tarpon Springs out of an abundance of caution for the safety of our patients, visitors and team members,” AdventHealth officials said.
According to the airline tracking website Flight Aware, 83% of the flights leaving Tampa International Airport were canceled on Tuesday with 87% of flights that were scheduled to fly into the airport.
Lake County, part of the Kissimmee-Orlando metropolitan area, said they will continue bus service until 8 p.m. before shutting it down. Public schools in 24 counties, including Tampa’s Hillsborough County as far south as Fort Myers’ Lee County.
New College of Florida, the University of North Florida and the University of South Florida all announced their closure because of the oncoming storm.
Late Monday, United Launch Alliance announced it had delayed the planned launch of its Atlas V rocket, which has a payload from the National Reconnaissance Office.
“Out of an abundance of caution for personnel safety, a critical national security payload and the approaching [Hurricane] Idalia, the team made the decision to return the rocket and payload to the vertical integration facility,” ULA said.