Hurricane Idalia: Rare blue supermoon could worsen life-threatening floods from Florida hurricane
A rare blue supermoon could play a role in exacerbating the flooding effects of Hurricane Idalia which is heading towards Florida’s west coast.
Residents of Florida’s Gulf Coast have been warned of a risk of life-threatening storm surges and dangerous hurricane-force winds over the next two days as the Category 3 hurricane is expected to hit Florida’s northwestern coast at around 6am local time on Wednesday.
The blue supermoon will also be closest to Earth on Wednesday night, making tides higher and flooding potentially worse, not only in Florida but in Georgia and South Carolina.
Known as a king tide, these higher tides are caused by the extra gravitational pull that occurs when the sun and moon align with Earth.
Brian Haines, the meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service office in Charleston, South Carolina, said: “I would say the timing is pretty bad for this one.”
All times local of Hurricane Idalia
He warned residents that some parts of Charleston could be underwater by Wednesday night.
Another deadly threat that Idalia poses is a surging wall of water 8ft (2.44m) to 15ft (4.5m) high that could flood low-lying areas along Florida’s coast, according to authorities.
Known as storm surges, these happen when high winds and atmospheric pressure from an oncoming hurricane force ocean water up onto land.
Preparations in Cedar Key. Pic: AP
A storm surge is often the most destructive aspect of a hurricane, Sky News weather producer Kirsty McCabe said.
Hundreds of miles of Florida shoreline are under storm surge warnings, from Apalachicola Bay to Tampa, the state’s third-largest city, and down to Sarasota in the south.
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Lightning strikes in Storm Idalia
The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Centre has also warned that the hurricane could create tornadoes as it moves over the state.
The storm could bring 10 to 20cm (3 to 8in) of rain and winds of up to 120mph (193kph).
The National Hurricane Centre issued the warnings after Cuba was hit with heavy rain, flooding and landslides.
‘One word: Leave’
Idalia is the first storm to hit Florida this hurricane season, a state that is also dealing with lingering damage from last year’s Hurricane Ian.
The National Weather Service in the city of Tallahassee called Idalia “an unprecedented event” since no major hurricanes on record have ever passed through the bay bordering the Big Bend region.
On the island of Cedar Key, Commissioner Sue Colson joined other officials in packing up documents and electronics at City Hall.
Cancelled flights at Tampa International Airport. Pic: AP
In a message to the almost 900 residents who were under mandatory orders to evacuate the island, she said: “One word: Leave.
“It’s not something to discuss.”
State of emergency in 49 Florida counties
On Tuesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 49 of Florida’s 67 counties that stretch across the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic Coast.
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Hurricane Idalia: ‘Make your final preparations’
About 1,100 National Guard members, who have 2,400 high-water vehicles and 12 aircraft at their disposal for rescue and recovery efforts, have also been mobilised.
“We’ve not really had a hurricane strike this area for a long, long time,” Mr DeSatnis said.
At least 23 Florida counties have posted evacuation orders on their websites or social media pages as of Tuesday morning, including for parts of Tampa.
Pic: AP
From the Gulf Coast, the storm will move eastwards across the north of the state, just north of Jacksonville, before it reaches the border with Georgia at around 6pm.
Beyond Florida, it will move along the Gulf of Mexico coastline to Georgia, South and then North Carolina on Wednesday and Thursday.
Donald Trump has doubled down on US plans to take over Gaza in a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House.
The meeting came the day after the president said he would withhold aid to Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries if they refused to take in people forcibly displaced from Gaza.
King Abdullah’s “steadfast position” – as he laid out on X after the news conference – was “against the displacement of Palestinians.”
He said Jordan, which is already home to millions of Palestinians, will take in 2,000 children who have cancer or are otherwise unwell.
But on taking in more Gazans, he stressed a solution that was “good for everybody” – including Americans, the “people in the region” and Jordanians – was his priority.
However, the King sat quietly as Mr Trump reiterated his plans to displace two million Palestinians, which he said was a “very small number of people”.
Mr Trump also said he believes there will be “parcels of land” in Jordan, Egypt and “someplace else” where Palestinians will live “happily and very safely”.
Pic: Reuters
“They only want to be in the Gaza Strip because they don’t know anything else, they’ve never had an alternative,” Mr Trump said.
“They are being killed there at levels that nobody has ever seen – no place in the world is as dangerous as the Gaza Strip.”
He claims – contrary to what Gazans have said – that “not one person” wants to stay in Gaza.
Asked to respond to the widespread view among experts in international law that his plan amounts to ethnic cleansing, Mr Trump said: “We are moving them to a beautiful location.”
Pic: Reuters
However, Trump appeared to ease off his previous threat to withdraw aid to countries that refused to take in people from Gaza.
“Well, I don’t want to say that… we don’t have to threaten that, I do believe we’re above that,” he said.
In the same news conference, Mr Trump said the US won’t buy Gaza, it will simply “have it”.
“We don’t have to buy, there’s nothing to buy,” he said.
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‘Palestinians don’t want to be on Gaza Strip’
“It’s a war-torn area, we’re going to hold it, we’re going to take it… Gaza the way it is, civilisation has been wiped out in Gaza. It’s going to be a great economic development.”
He declined to answer how that would work – and how he can avoid spending US taxes running it.
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“We’re going to run it very properly and eventually we’ll have economic development at a very large scale”, he said, promising “peace in the Middle East”.
“With the United States in control of that piece of land… you’re going to have stability in the Middle East for the first time.
“The Palestinians, the people who live now in Gaza, will be living beautifully in another location.
“They are going to be living safely – they’re not going to be killed, murdered and having to leave every 10 years.”
Trump added that he is 99% sure he will work out a deal with Egypt.
An American teacher sentenced to 14 years in a Russian jail has been released and is flying home to be reunited with his family.
Marc Fogel, 63, was pictured on a flight to the US on Tuesday – more than three years after he was arrested in Moscow for drug smuggling.
He was detained after travelling with what his family said was medically prescribed cannabis. In December, the US government designated him as wrongfully detained.
Mr Fogel left Russia with Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in what officials said could help bring about talks to end the Ukraine war.
US national security adviser Mike Waltz said: “President Trump, Steve Witkoff and the president’s advisers negotiated an exchange that serves as a show of good faith from the Russians”.
“By tonight, Marc Fogel will be on American soil and reunited with his family and loved ones thanks to President Trump’s leadership,” he added.
Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (left) helped secure the release. File pic: Reuters
Moscow has so far not commented and it is unclear what concessions the US might have made.
“We are beyond grateful, relieved, and overwhelmed that after more than three years of detention, our father, husband, and son, Marc Fogel, is finally coming home,” the family said in a statement.
They said their time apart had been “the darkest and most painful period of our lives”.
Mr Waltz said the deal was “a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine”.
Donald Trump said last month his administration was involved in “very serious” talks with Russia about the future of the conflict.
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Mr Fogel’s release comes six months after he was excluded from the biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War.
That historic deal won the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan, among others.
Russian hitman Vadim Krasikov was among those released from Western prisons in exchange.
However, US-Russian national Ksenia Khavana remains locked up after getting a 12-year treason sentence in August related to a $52 donation to a charity benefiting Ukraine.
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