2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season

Recovery efforts are underway for areas across central and north Florida following Hurricane Idalia's destruction.

The low population and low property values in the Big Bend area compared to the rest of the state means local governments have less financial resources to respond. Moody’s RMS puts the eventual insured loss between $3-$5 billion, with the Florida home insurance market already in trouble.

Hundreds of Big Bend residents lost their home last week to Idalia, with Horseshoe Beach taking one of the hardest hits of all. Officials estimate it may take up to two weeks to restore power to the area.

The declaration in part, makes federal money available for people affected by the storm.

Experts say its eye experienced a phenomenon that kept it from further intensifying. Just after came another twist: A last-minute turn sparing the state’s capital city of Tallahassee from far more serious devastation.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office says he has no plans to meet with President Joe Biden when the Democrat flies to Florida this weekend to survey damage from Hurricane Idalia, suggesting that doing so could hinder disaster response because of the logistics involved.

Search-and-rescue efforts have been narrowed to three counties hit hard by Category 3 Hurricane Idalia, while Gov. Ron DeSantis wants the federal government to expand a disaster declaration.

An aerial tour of the region in north-central Florida where Idalia made landfall early Wednesday and nearby communities revealed the devastating scale of destruction across Florida’s Big Bend from Cedar Key northwest to Horseshoe Beach to Steinhatchee to Keaton Beach to Perry and nearby Live Oak.

Megan Borowski, a meteorologist for the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network, said Idalia could have gotten even stronger if it spent more time over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Federal hurricane experts are warning people to avoid swimming this Labor Day holiday weekend, unless they’ve checked for the risk of rip currents.

Some companies are estimating the state will suffer billions of dollars in insured losses due to the storm, but an experts says it's much too early to determine final numbers and effects.

The city of Perry was hit hard by Hurricane Idalia. After the winds and rains cleared, community members realized recovery would be just as hard. But as neighbors gathered in the rural Big Bend town, they took the first steps toward picking up the pieces.