Tropical storm Idalia intensified and was expected to be a major hurricane when it reaches Florida’s Gulf Coast later this week, the National Hurricane Center said Monday, as officials declared states of emergencies in dozens of counties and ordered some evacuations in preparation for potentially life-threatening storm surges.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned of a “major impact” to the state, noting that what was originally forecast to be nothing stronger than a tropical storm was now predicted to become a Category 3 hurricane.
Idalia would be the first storm to hit Florida this hurricane season and a potentially big blow to the state, which is
