hurricane idalia, which is a category 2 hurricane which has just strengthened. the wind speeds are now at 105 miles per hour, and they are gaining. but it is not the wind that has people the most worried about this hurricane. it s the water. it is the storm surge, predicted to be 10 to 15 feet right where i m standing in steinhatchee. the steinhatchee river right now sat low tide. at high tide, it s another 5, 6 feet higher than where it is. add 10 to 15 feet on top of that, and the area where i am standing right now is feared to be just completely covered in water about eight hours from now. that is the concern along the florida gulf coast. about 45 minutes south of where i am in the town of cedar key, the mayor there issued his town and his people a stern warning. we re here to beg our citizens to heed this warning. this storm is worse than we ve ever seen. it is worse than we have ever seen, he said. a storm like this has not passed in this direction in over 100 years.
from tampa to tallahassee. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. you re in the situation room. this is cnn breaking news. we are standing by for an urgent update from the governor of florida, ron desantis, on the hurricane disaster all along the state s gulf coast. this as hurricane idalia was just weakened into a tropical storm. but it is still packing a punch as it takes aim at georgia and south carolina. cnn correspondents are on the scene covering idalia s devastation in florida and the storm s assault on georgia happening right now. but first, let s go to john bierman in the city of perry. john, you just got there. what have you seen so far? reporter: yeah, alex, the storm made landfall on keaton beach. 18 miles due that way and then passed directly overhead here in perry. you can see some of the damage it did. i m at roady s truck stop. you can see the wind just completely blew the awning over. it ripped up the brick there. t
trees knocked down, a fire station blown apart. i ll speak to a lifelong floridian who rode out the storm from his house boat. senator minority leader mitch mcconnell increasing mid-sentence. what his team is saying tonight about his health. let s go outfront. good evening, i m erica hill in for erin burnett. outfront tonight, breaking news. a destructive storm now making its way up the coast. idalia now hitting the carolinas. this after nearly half a million customers were left without power between florida and georgia. the rain and wind already leaving a trail of destruction across a swath of florida and, again, now into georgia and the carolinas. we are beginning to get new images here into outfront including a home in pasco county on fire, amid the floodwaters. another one on fire in that same county. officials there say some 600 homes were destroyed. meantime in cedar key, there was so much concern and conversation last night about cedar key. water levels reachin
then the landfall about 20 miles farther west than it was forecast to be. the cone shifted about 20 miles farther to the west, closer to tallahassee, making significantly more wind damage there as you shift that cone farther and farther to the left. something else i ve noticed there, seeing lightning now around the eye. that means the storms are getting stronger, getting bigger around the eye itself which means the storm is not losing strength. in fact, it s going the other way. when you see lightning in the eye, it s getting stronger. wind gusts around 30. sarasota, every time you see one of these cells head over your home, that s when the wind is going to pick up. the cell goes by and the wind will be gone. what the deal is with this whole storm is as it moves up into this big bend area, that s where the catcher s mitt effect is going to happen and we ll see all that water get caught with the storm surge that. surge is going to be 15 feet high. if you re on land and right t
florida is already feeling hurricane idalia s impacts. squalling coming ashore in the keys, deadly storm surge of up to 15 feet is expected. winds stronger than 100 miles per hour. maybe much stronger. officials warning residents to get out now. and a federal judge set to rule on whether mark meadows can move his case in georgia from state to federal court. but not before he asks for additional arguments from both the prosecution and the defense. ahead, what this could signal for the meadows case and that of former president trump. a father s desperate 911 call, new audio and video from the jacksonville shooting. authorities are continuing to piece together what happened as the community mourns the victims of a racist attack. we are following these major developing stories and many on more all coming in right here to cnn news central. right now parts of south florida are already feeling hurricane idalia. its outer most bands are bringing heavy rain to the florida keys