Watch full force of Hurricane Idalia as it bears down on Florida

Hurricane Idalia strengthened to a ‘catastrophic and dangerous’ Category 4 storm Wednesday morning as it steamed toward Florida‘s Big Bend region, threatening to unleash lethal storm surges and torrential rainfall on helpless citizens.

Idalia was projected to come ashore early Wednesday as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of up to 156 mph in the Big Bend region, where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula. 

Huge swathes of communities on the Florida coastline are already underwater, with several major roads closed and some 50,000 left without power amid the deluge. 

Now, as dawn breaks on this fateful day, the haunting echoes of last year’s Hurricane Ian are still fresh, a painful reminder of the vulnerability that Florida’s residents face.  

But the bay-hugging Big Bend area hasn’t seen the likes of such a ferocious hurricane in living memory, leading the National Weather Service in Tallahassee to call Idalia ‘an unprecedented event’.

Hurricanes are measured on a five category scale, with a Category 5 being the strongest. A Category 3 storm is the first on the scale considered a major hurricane. 

The National Hurricane Center warns that ‘catastrophic damage will occur’ when a Category 4 hurricane unleashes its fury.

As the clock ticks and the storm draws closer, the gravity of the situation becomes more apparent.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis solemnly told residents yesterday evening: ‘You really gotta go now. Now is the time.’

And on the island of Cedar Key, Commissioner Sue Colson delivered a chillingly short and direct message.

‘One word: Leave,’ Colson said. ‘It’s not something to discuss.’