Tropical Storm Idalia is forecast to become a “major hurricane” by the time it reaches the Gulf Coast of Florida on Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Tropical storm and hurricane warnings are in place along the state’s west coast due to “an increasing threat of life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds and scattered flash and urban flooding along or in portions of the west coast of Florida, the Panhandle and Southeast beginning on Tuesday,” the NHC advised Monday.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that 46 Florida counties were under a state of emergency at a press conference on Monday. "This is going to be a major impact," he said, warning that residents should prepare for the storm to be a Category 3 or higher.
Read more from Yahoo News:Where is Tropical Storm Idalia? See radars tracking the storm, via Naples Daily News
Yahoo News spoke with Joel Cline, a tropical meteorologist with the NHC, about what to know if you’ve been told to evacuate ahead of a tropical storm or hurricane. Some responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
1. Top things to do to prepare for an evacuation
The number one thing you want to take is a big Ziploc bag with all the important papers that you don't want ruined in a flood: insurance certificates, proof of ownership, photos you don't want lost forever.
Read more from Yahoo News:Can you get home insurance while Idalia targets Florida? What to know before the storm, via Miami Herald
The basics for survival: your clothes and food that you want to take. If you've got a pet, make sure the place you're going will allow a pet to stay. A lot of times, places that prepare food will not allow pets because they don't want the risk of food getting contaminated. That's why planning ahead of time is good to know where you are going to go.
Read more from Yahoo News:Hurricane season with pets: How to include furry friends as dangerous Idalia approaches, via the Fort Myers News-Press
Also, prepare ahead of time because gas lines are going to be long, the grocery stores are going to be full and the hardware stores will be empty of supplies.
2. Listen to local officials, and evacuate when they tell you to
If you're in a hurricane evacuation zone and you've got local officials telling you to leave, then the first and foremost thing is to listen to them and to leave.
We've worked with social scientists over the last several years and people will tend to do what they call “anchoring.” They'll latch onto a fact that supports what they want to hear, like the storm won't be as bad as it could be, and they make a decision based on hope instead of facts.
Read more from Yahoo News:Here's what the hurricane categories mean, via CBS News
Also, don't be anchored to a previous [storm] system that happened years ago. People would say, “I lived in Florida and I survived that [hurricane] just fine.” Well, yes, you're several hundred miles away or maybe 50 miles away. So the impacts aren't the same. But this storm is different. Pay attention to the latest information about this storm and make your decisions based on that information, not what you think went on during a storm from years past.
My question is: what are you going to do if you stay? There's no help coming. You're staking your life on that decision.
3. You don’t necessarily have to travel hundreds of miles to evacuate
The NHC has been saying for 30 years to go “tens of miles,” not hundreds of miles. We want you off the road and not clogging the road up. You run from the water, you don't want to be next to a river and you don't want to be on the low side of a dam.
For example, you've evacuated somewhere and you evacuated well inland, but still in the path of the system and you're staying at a hotel right on a river. If that hotel's in a flood zone, or something like that, you may not have done anything to save your life.
4. Keep updated on the storm’s forecast
Go to a credible, trusted source — like your local government officials, hurricanes.gov, noaa.gov, weather.gov — all those places will take you to information about the actual hurricane and what the latest impact will be from wind or storm surge, rainfall and flooding or a tornado event. Check multiple times throughout the storm because the forecast changes. That's why we work around the clock so that we can update the forecast every three hours. When it gets closer to land, they have hourly position points as well.
5. The short-term and long-term impacts of a storm
There's almost two time scales when it comes to hurricanes: short-term impacts are very large, in-your-face, kind of things with storm surge, rain, flooding, high winds, and if you're in the direct path, it's more than likely going to be one of the worst things that you've ever witnessed in your life.
But after the storm passes, there’s the long-term impacts people don’t consider often: being without power for several weeks, and not being able to drive out because there’s a river between you and the place you want to go. Flooding can be immediate, but it can also be long-term for weeks afterward.