TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — As of noon on Thursday, there have been no fatalities reported in Florida due to Hurricane Idalia, state leaders announced during a press conference held at 9:15 a.m.
Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie said search and rescue efforts have been successful and joined Gov. Ron DeSantis in crediting evacuation orders in preventing deaths. Guthrie's report stemmed from the Medical Examiners Commission.
"The governor and I really hit that hard - evacuate, evacuate, evacuate," Guthrie said during the press conference. "It seems that people have heeded that call."
Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday morning along Florida's Big Bend as a major hurricane. The First Coast did not see the brunt of Idalia's impact but, did leave debris and flooding in its aftermath.
DeSantis said the most significant damage is in the Big Bend region and will likely have the longest clean-up time. According to the governor, there have been 40 successful rescues and one medical evacuation.
Florida works to get the power back on
As of 6 a.m. on Thursday, there were about 146,000 power outages across the state, according to DeSantis, adding that a majority are in "the rural counties that bore the brunt of the storm."
Getting the lights back on may take longer due to the impacted region. Florida has the manpower for the job, Guthrie said, explaining the true challenge is that the infrastructure grid is different from the more urban Lee County area.
"This is [an] issue that we have miles and miles of rural area that may service one or two residents," Guthrie said.
To put it into perspective, Guthrie said a handful of customers within a 10-mile radius may get their power back on. It's not a quick job.
"We're going to do it," he assured. "We're going to get it done."
Guthrie said the goal is to get electricity back to customers over the next 48 hours.
Florida is granted federal relief funds
At 11 a.m., President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration to grant federal aid in recovery efforts following Idalia, according to a press release sent to First Coast News Thursday.
The declaration will be for 7 Florida counties in which includes Citrus, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee and Taylor counties, the release states.
The declaration will include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster, the release states.
Federal funding also is available to state, tribal and eligible local governments as well as certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work in the counties of Citrus, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee and Taylor, according to the release.
Lastly, federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide, the release states.
Brett H. Howard of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been appointed to coordinate federal recovery operations in the affected areas, the release states.
Florida has yet to be able to release a damage assessment to put a price tag on Idalia's destruction as assessments are continuing in other affected areas and "more counties and additional forms of assistance may be designated after the assessments are fully completed," the release states.
Florida's priorities in Idalia's aftermath
Water is receding in some of Florida's most flooded areas. The governor said the priority now is to safely open roadways and make sure major interstates and highways are clear.
Thirty of the 52 school districts that closed during the storm, reopened Thursday with another eight anticipated to operate by Friday, the governor announced. The state's education commissioner will work with districts in the Big Bend region to see the best and safest ways to get students back to class.
DeSantis said the response to this storm looks different because of the region that was struck the hardest. He said he and emergency management teams are fine-tuning assistance to what makes sense for residents in the area.
He largely credited people for evacuating and local officials for pushing evacuation orders. It's due to evacuations, he said, that much of the response is clean-up.
When asked how the response differs from Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 storm that was the deadliest hurricane to strike Florida in decades, DeSantis said the distinction was in location.
"Ian was different because where that hit," he explained, adding that the storm - just short of a Category 5 - blew boats to fields and struck a much more populated area. Ian made landfall in 2022 near Coya Costa in Lee County.
As far as Idalia, the hurricane struck rural open areas, DeSantis said.
"A massive amount of debris," he said of the damage. "I saw roofs torn off of businesses."
DeSantis said he couldn't speak to the extent of Idalia's damage as he was unable to access some of the hardest-hit areas Wednesday. He plans on surveying more damage in Florida's Big Bend for the rest of Thursday.
View the full briefing in the video player below.