#Crews performing high-water vehicle rescues in wake of Idalia landfall

Emergency crews are performing high-water vehicle rescues after Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend Wednesday morning.  

Kevin Guthrie, executive director of Florida’s Department of Emergency Management, said Wednesday high-water vehicle rescues are taking place from Pennalus County into Pasco County and in towns along Florida’s west coast including Palm Harbor, Clearwater and New Port Richey. 

Guthrie said in an interview on “CBS Mornings” that crews would use high-water vehicles in areas they can access, which are normally in two or three feet of water.

“If we have to shift to a flat bottom boat methodology, we’ll certainly do that,” he added. 

Idalia made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend at 7:45 a.m., according to the National Hurricane Center, with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph at Keaton Beach in Taylor County. 

Just before landfall, the Taylor County Emergency Operations Center was forced to abandon their site and go to their backup location at the Perry-Foley Airport in Taylor County, Guthrie said. 

The Hurricane Center’s Storm Surge center predicted storm surge up to 11 feet in Big Bend. According to Guthrie, there is already a 6-foot storm surge in Cedar Key, a city in Florida’s Big Bend region.  

“This is far from over, there is going to be these bands of rain that train well into the afternoon,  maybe even to the early evening hours across the Big Bed area,” Guthrie said. “So we’re not done with this by no means, lots of wind damage, lots of tree canopy damage, lots of power line damage.”

Crews are working to restore power in southwest Florida and just below the Tampa Bay region, Guthrie said. 

Storm surges are expected to impact the Gulf Coast of Florida through Wednesday evening, even as the storm moves makes its way towards southeast Georgia and South Carolina.