Hurricane Idalia: Tree falls on Ron DeSantis’ house moments after he warned people to stay safe
A 100-year-old oak tree has fallen on the governor of Florida’s mansion as he warned people to stay safe during Hurricane Idalia.
Ron DeSantis’ wife Casey has said family members were home at the time but nobody was injured.
“Our prayers are with everyone impacted by the storm”, she said.
Mr DeSantis had moments earlier given a news conference where he said there had been no deaths as a result of the storm but warned people to stay safe.
He also said 250,000 homes are without power.
Idalia made landfall in Florida as a dangerous Category 3 storm and later crossed into Georgia still as a hurricane.
It was later downgraded to a Category 2 storm as its centre moved towards southern Georgia.
Hurricane Idalia latest – follow live updates
Idalia is now a Category 1 storm but has caused flooding with more water expected at high tide on Wednesday afternoon local time.
Mr DeSantis said during the news conference there have been no deaths as a result of the storm but urged people to stay safe.
“Don’t put your life at risk by doing anything dumb at this point,” he said. “This thing’s powerful. If you’re inside, just hunker down until it gets past you.”
Florida Highway Patrol earlier said two men, aged 40 and 59, had died in separate “weather-related” crashes.
However, Mr DeSantis’ comments suggest the deaths are not being attributed to Idalia.
Meanwhile, a senior Florida official has said businesses have caught fire, roofs have been blown off and two 911 centres temporarily went offline during the storm.
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Power drops as Ron DeSantis gives briefing
The worst impacted city was Perry, where firefighters tackled two blazes and one house “potentially” collapsed, according to Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
Madison County has been hit hard too.
“They have a lot of debris on the ground and about 99% power outages,” he said.
“A couple” of 911 centres went offline for approximately half an hour and there are some “minor backlogs” in the counties of Madison and Taylor, Mr Guthrie added.
“There is no one in distress who has not been taken care of.”
Ken Welch, the mayor of St Petersburg in Florida, said parts of the city have been hit with about 4ft (1.2m) of storm surge.
He added more water is expected at high tide on Wednesday afternoon local time.
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A woman and her dog paddle through waters in St. Pete Beach, Florida. Pic: AP
Floodwaters in Gulfport, Fla., as Hurricane. Pic: AP
Mr Welch says there remains a risk from tornadoes and live downed power lines. No deaths in the city had been reported by late morning although some neighbourhoods were flooded.
Three major bridges, including the Sunshine Skyway across the mouth of Tampa Bay, remained closed.
“Make no mistake, this hurricane left its mark. The reality is we are not done dealing with the consequences of this major storm,” Mr Welch said.
Images show floodwaters have submerged cars and left residential streets under water.
A submerged car in Cedar Key, Florida
Meanwhile, Georgia Governor Brain Kemp has said between nine and 10 inches of rain has fallen in some areas of the state today.
He said some 61,000 people are currently without power.
Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, said wind gusts of 60mph to 80mph could still do “a lot of damage” in Georgia, according to Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather.
He added that there are a lot of trees in the states affected that could come down and injure people or block roads.
Mr Porter said: “We don’t want people to let their guard down here as this storm continues to be very dangerous.
“Just because the maximum sustained winds of the storm will be coming down, there is still going to remain a significant risk to people.”
This is the most significant statement from the US president in days, though it still keeps everyone guessing.
In a message conveyed through his press secretary, he is giving diplomacy up to two weeks to work.
“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” Karoline Leavitt quoted him as saying.
It is not clear what “whether or not to go” entails.
Israel-Iran conflict: Latest updates
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Trump: Iran ‘weeks away’ from nuclear weapon
We know that he has been given a spectrum of different military options by his generals and we know that the Israelis are pressuring him to use American B2 bombers with their bunker-busting bombs to destroy Iran’s nuclear facility at Fodow.
The Israelis are encouraging no delay. But against that, he is weighing up many risks, both military and political.
Militarily, it is not clear how successful a bunker-busting strike on Fordow would be.
Experts have suggested it would require several of the massive bombs, which have never been used in combat before, to be dropped on the site.
It is not as simple as one clean strike and job done.
Politically, the president is under significant pressure domestically not to get involved in Iran.
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Within his own MAGA coalition – influencers, politicians and media personalities are lining up in criticism of involvement in the conflict.
One of those leading the criticism, his former chief strategist Steve Bannon, who maintains huge influence, was seen entering the White House on Thursday.
His press secretary reiterated to us that the president always wants to give diplomacy a chance and she confirmed that his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has spoken to the Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.
Steve Bannon, seen recently at a conservative event in Maryland, is against US involvement in Iran. Pic: AP
European leaders, including the UK foreign secretary David Lammy, who is in Washington, are meeting Mr Araghchi in Geneva on Friday.
The two-week window – assuming it lasts that long – also gives space to better prepare for any strike and mitigate against some of the other risks of US involvement.
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There are 40,000 troops in bases across the Middle East. It takes time to increase security at these bases or to move non-essential personnel out. It also takes time to move strategic military assets into the region.
The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and its support vessels were redeployed from the Indo-Pacific on Monday. Their last known position was the Strait of Malacca two days ago.
The Nimitz Carrier Group will overlap with the USS Carl Vinson group which was deployed to the Middle East in March.
The potential two-week window also allows for more time for a ‘day after’ plan, given that the Israeli strategy appears to be regime change from within.
Since the Israeli action in Iran began last week, the worst-case scenario of mass casualties in Israel from Iranian attacks has not materialised.
The president is said to be surprised and encouraged by this. “Israel has exceeded a lot of people’s expectations in their abilities,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
The Israeli success, the absence of a mass casualty event in Israel, and the lack of any sustained counterattack by Iranian proxies in the region remove reservations that previous presidents have had about taking on Iran.
That said, sources have told Sky News that the president is determined that the diplomatic solution should be given a chance despite current pessimism over the chances of success.
A critical two weeks ahead.
A SpaceX rocket has exploded before launch – sending a dramatic fireball high into the sky.
Starship 36 was preparing for its 10th test flight at Starbase – SpaceX’s launch site at the southern tip of Texas – when the incident occurred on Wednesday evening.
During take off procedures just after 11pm local time, the rocket exploded into a giant fireball.
The company described the incident as a “major anomaly”.
Starship 36 was preparing for its 10th test flight. Pic: NASASpaceFlight
The test flight failed at Starbase – SpaceX’s launch site. Pic: NASASpaceFlight
In a statement, it added: “A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for.
“Our Starbase team is actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials.
“There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities, and we ask that individuals do not attempt to approach the area while safing operations continue.”
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It marks the latest failure for the space flight company, which hopes that Starship will one day be used to ferry people and cargo to Mars.
Last month, a Starship test flight began spinning out of control about 30 minutes after its launch because of fuel leaks – meaning it broke up on re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
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May: SpaceX rocket spins out of control
That followed explosive past failures in January, where a rocket blew up about eight minutes after take-off, and March, which forced flights in Florida to be temporarily grounded.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in May that despite the rocket failure, the test flight was a “big improvement”.
A day later, he said he wants to send a spacecraft crewed by humanoid robots on a voyage to Mars by the end of 2026.
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