On Wednesday, August 30th, 2023, Hurricane Idalia officially made landfall as a high-end category 3 hurricane in Keaton Beach, Florida. The hurricane had been moving up the state, wrecking havoc since the 28th. Marco Island was hit the hardest on Tuesday, August 29th.

Statewide Impact

In the northern parts of Florida, the damages were much worse than in the southern areas of the state. The waters in the bend of Florida were confirmed to have risen over a foot before high tide. Governor DeSantis released a statement stating how the damages were still being assessed. While official statements regarding the damages are still pending, there is already substantial evidence of damage throughout most of the panhandle and bend areas of Florida.

 Throughout most of the state, the damages are relatively minimal, and the recovery from this storm looks like it is going to be relatively quick.

Programs are being put into place in order to speed up the recovery and to  those facing significant damage from the storm. DeSantis has already set into action several programs to better assess and repair the damages that were caused, and these disaster relief plans should be very helpful to the communities in need.

Marco Island and Collier Impact

At Marco Island Academy, students were sent to the bathrooms and other closed-off rooms due to the hurricane and the tornadoes that had been caused by it.

Throughout most of Collier County, the damages were minor, but the tornadoes following did damage some areas. Parts of East Naples, near the airport, faced particular damage from the storm.

The crossroads of 41 and Collier was home to one of the tornadoes. There was no major damage, but there were minor damages as far north as Naples Manor from this specific cyclone.

On Marco Island, while there was minor flooding, there were no other major issues. Flooding was one of the largest concerns in Southwest Florida, and over 15 roads were closed throughout Collier, including San Marco Road.

As of 9/1

As of September 1st, the hurricane has moved past land after passing through the Carolinas. At the moment, the storm remains at sea, not looking like it will return to Florida.

As of 9/6

Many counties are still left with severe damage from Idalia. DeSantis has been going to various counties around northern Florida to show his support. President Joe Biden and his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, also visited the Big Bend portion of Florida. Help is being sent from all around the nation to speed up the recovery from this horrific storm.

After the state was surveyed, it was confirmed that there have been over $2.5 billion dollars in damages. This estimate was a lowball number, with upwards of $4 billion dollars being expected to fix all of the damages. The large majority of this is in the Big Bend, with some of it being in south and central Florida, where they were hit with the outskirts of the storm.