Storm surge reached 12 feet and higher, slamming against homes and ripping away balconies.
The impact of Hurricane Idalia is being described as catastrophic after it made landfall Wednesday in Florida. Videos are coming to light showing the destruction 125-mile-per-hour winds can cause.
The storm made landfall on Wednesday just before 8 a.m. on the island of Cedar Key.
Some reporters braved the record storm surge of 12 feet and higher as it slammed against homes and ripped away balconies.
A residential street approaching the island of Cedar Key is underwater.
The massive surf swamped the west coast of Florida.
CBS News lead national correspondent, David Begnaud, spoke with Inside Edition.
“Along the western coast of Florida there is significant flooding,” Begnaud says. “From where I’m standing right now we were told a couple of hours ago that there was water at homes. So you have major damage here.”
Up the coast, sailboats torn from their moorings collided into a bridge.
“The river is running the opposite way. Boats are being knocked loose and their masts are slamming into the bridge,” one man said in a video posted to social media.
NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez nearly missed a large billboard that came crashing down while he was reporting in the storm.
Electrical transformers exploded in some areas, knocking out power. A reporter for WTXL in Tallahassee was live on-air when an electrical transformer exploded.
Power was lost during Governor Ron DeSantis’ press conference.
The city of Tampa did not face a direct hit from the hurricane.
