• Watch out for fallen power lines that may be hanging overhead. 
• Stay clear of fallen power lines. Call the electric company to report them. 

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida evacuated 4,000 prisoners from nearly three dozen facilities statewide ahead of approaching Hurricane Idalia, moving inmates to more robust buildings better equipped to survive what were expected to be dangerous conditions.

The Department of Corrections said Tuesday some of the smaller prisons, work release centers and work camps were directly in the path of the storm, such as the Cross City Work Camp in Dixie County along Florida’s Big Bend coastland and the Tallahassee Community Release Center in the state’s capital.

State prisons across the region also suspended visitation for the days after the storm was expected to make landfall on Wednesday. Those prisons were in Bradford, Hardee, Jefferson, Madison, Marion, Madison, Sumter, Suwanee, Union and Volusia counties.

Extra food and water was being prepared for delivery to prisons in Hurricane Idalia’s path. The agency said major prisons also were equipped with backup generators, and that it was prepared to serve bagged meals and bottled water in the event of power failures or dangerous conditions that prevented inmates from leaving their cells.

Meanwhile, sheriffs operating county jails in the path of the approaching hurricane said Tuesday they were prepared for inmates to ride out the storm conditions with backup generators to restore power and buildings expected to withstand pounding winds and a dangerous storm surge. 

Directly in the storm’s path were the Lake City Correctional Facility in Columbia County, operated by Tennessee-based private prisons contractor CoreCivic. It also manages the Citrus County Detention Facility in Lecanto.

A CoreCivic spokesman, Brian Todd, said both facilities had backup generators and the company will coordinate with local emergency response agencies and follow their directions.

Levy County – along Florida’s coast and in the path of the hurricane – didn’t expect to evacuate the jail, which contains about 150 inmates, and believes it is properly equipped for expected rainfall, Lt. Scott Tummond said.

“We have withstood lots of rainfall in the past,” he said. “I don't see anything being any different in this event, other than we're looking at much higher wind speeds if we take a direct hit.  The structure is hardened and capable of withstanding, I think, a (Category) 5 hurricane. So, the infrastructure of the building itself is probably the safest place in the county.”

Tummond said electrical blackouts are likely and backup generators were in place.

Registered sex offenders in Levy County won’t be admitted to normal community shelters and will have to report to the county jail for shelter.

In Taylor County, southeast of Tallahassee, authorities also didn’t expect to need to evacuate inmates. Lt. Carlos Johnson said the jail in Perry, Florida, housed 101 inmates who were expected to weather the hurricane in their cells. He said blackouts were possible but generators were ready. 

Taylor County is one of several bordering Apalachee Bay, where no major hurricane has ever passed through. The National Weather Service said Tuesday that Idalia’s arrival there could be an unprecedented event with unpredictable consequences.

In Franklin County, southwest of Tallahassee and along the Gulf’s coast, Sheriff A.J. Smith said he didn’t believe the storm posed a threat to the county’s jail with 72 inmates – unless the hurricane began tracking further west. 

“It looks right now we're going to be fine,” the sheriff said. “Unless it, you know, turns more to the west and then we'd have to re-evaluate it. But right now we should be good.”

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• Watch out for fallen power lines that may be hanging overhead. 
• Stay clear of fallen power lines. Call the electric company to report them. 

• Always follow warnings about flooded roads. 
• Don’t drive in flooded areas—cars or other vehicles won’t protect you from floodwaters. They can be swept away or may stall in moving water. 

• Citizens with downed trees, leaking roofs, or structural damage need to call their insurance companies and make arrangements with service vendors to make needed repairs.  

• Turn off the power at the main breaker in your house if the device is still plugged in. Wait for an electrician to check the device before using it. 
• Always use Generators properly to avoid Carbon monoxide poisoning.  Never use them in the House or the garage.  

• Do not enter a damaged building until local authorities determine it is safe. Hurricanes can damage buildings and make them unsafe. 
• Leave your home or building if you hear shifting or unusual noises. Strange noises could mean the building about to fall. 

• Throw away food that may have come in contact with flood or stormwater. When in doubt, throw it out.

CEDAR KEY, Fla. – Ahead of Hurricane Idalia’s landfall, expected early Wednesday, residents of this historic, Gulf coast fishing village renowned for its waterfront seafood restaurants and quaint stores were wondering whether their luck was about to run out.

On the edge of the Gulf of Mexico, windows were boarded Tuesday, businesses were empty and cars were missing from driveways. A few people on golf carts drove along the island’s roads ahead of the storm – just before an evacuation.

Forecasters predicted the storm would strengthen to at least a Category 3 hurricane before landfall, with storm surges of up to 10 to 15 feet. 

Disaster planners who have studied Cedar Key’s housing and community vulnerabilities have predicted that a Category 3 storm could overwhelm over 80% of homes on the island and cripple nearly all its critical infrastructure.

Corey and Samuel Rudd, 26 and 17, were clearing the porch of a home on State Road 24 heading into Cedar Key and said they had been putting up storm shutters for a few days. Their grandfather owns the business where they work, Taylor Construction and Development Inc. Grandma was leaving to shelter in Gainesville, about 60 miles northeast. Grandpa was staying behind.

The city’s postmaster of 13 years, Jason Knott, kept busy clearing the front of the store to keep debris from turning into a missile. Last year, he said, the town prepared for Hurricane Ian to devastate until that storm turned east. “Really dodged a bullet,” he said. Knott lives in Ocala and was planning to shelter there for the night but will return Wednesday to check the damage and rebuild, as he always has. 

Lydia Hicks, 62, has lived in Cedar Key for two years but has known the city since childhood through her great grandparents. She works now as a catastrophe insurance adjuster and knows the strength of storms like these. She is not worried so much about the storm surge as she is the strength of the storm winds, which have a chance to intensify. Hicks said she will shelter in Port Richey, north of Tampa, for the night.

A bad omen for Cedar Key? The Weather Channel’s journalist who famously reports from the likely bullseye of the strongest hurricanes, Jim Cantore, was broadcasting from the town for much of the day Tuesday.

Cedar Key only has an area of about two miles. In 2020, it had fewer than 700 residents and 400 total households, according to Census figures.

Forecasters said Hurricane Idalia shifted late Tuesday evening further west than Cedar Key than originally expected. It’s not the first time it’s had a close call with a major storm. Hurricane Ian in 2022, less than a year ago, was just shy of Category 5 status upon landfall and was initially predicted to hit Cedar Key, but instead shifted south of Tampa, relieving residents. 

The last major hurricanes to land near Cedar Key in 100 years were Hurricane Easy in 1950 and an unnamed storm in 1935. Hurricane Hermine devastated Cedar Key with a record six feet of storm surge in 2016. Idalia could be twice as bad, the National Hurricane Center said.

In a home on the island, a lone golf cart sat in the driveway Tuesday, morbidly decorated with two skeletons in the back seat facing the road. No one was home. 

Tom, who would not give his last name, was walking his dog, Daisy, before leaving town for the night. In his neighborhood on the northwest side of the island, he said, it hasn’t flooded at all in the past two years he has lived there. He’s bringing a box of valuables with him but didn’t expect there to be much damage when he comes back tomorrow.

North of Cedar Key, in the flood-prone Big Bend of Florida and Apalachee Bay, the National Weather Service said a storm surge in this part of Florida would be unprecedented, with unknown consequences. 

“Looking back through recorded history, NO major hurricanes have ever moved through the Apalachee Bay,” the weather service said in a bulletin. “When you try to compare this storm to others, DON’T. No one has seen this.”