'Don't mess with this storm': Idalia makes landfall as Category 3 hurricane in Florida with 125 mph winds

Hurricane Idalia has made landfall in the United States' Florida. The storm touched down ina sparsely populated section of Florida's swampy Big Bend coast at around 7:45 am (local time) on Wednesday (August 30th).

Toppled trees and more

Itcame with powerful 125 mph winds that toppled trees and push torrents of dark water onshore, flooding the small fishing villages that dot a vast swath of shoreline. Overnight, the storm was briefly considered a category 4 storm, but it was dropped back to category 3just before sunrise.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, theUS National Hurricane Center warned that the "extremely dangerous Category 3 Hurricane Idalia" has made landfall in Florida. The US weather agency also reported ongoing "catastrophic storm surge and damaging winds.

As per Reuters, amajor Florida highway was floodedas Hurricane Idalia neared the state. The news agency reports that traffic camera images from the area showed the I-275 Interstate— which connects Tampa to the nearby city of St Petersburg across the Tampa Bay — flooded northbound as waves washed over the Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa.

'Don't mess with this storm'

In an early morning press conference, Florida governor Ron DeSantis warned Florida residents tonot put themselves in jeopardy and proceed with caution.

"Don't mess with this storm," said DeSantis, adding that "it's going to be a significant, significant impact".

(With inputs from agencies)

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