Hurricane Idalia almost Category 3 as it nears Florida. ‘Very difficult to survive that’

MIAMI — It’s “crunch time” for Florida as it braces for Hurricane Idalia’s impact — a possibly catastrophic storm not seen in more than a century, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday. It nears Category 3 strength as it marches toward the state’s Gulf Coast.

“If you are there when that hits, it is going to be very difficult to survive that,” DeSantis said.

The latest National Hurricane Center forecast at 8 p.m. Eastern time still tracked Idalia making landfall in the Big Bend area on Wednesday morning as a dangerous major storm.