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Missing windsurfer from Space Coast is second Florida death from Idalia

pickup truck sits in a canal
Rebecca Blackwell
/
AP
Pickup trucks and debris lay in a canal in Horseshoe Beach after Hurricane Idalia

Officials said Wednesday that the 60-year-old man went missing while windsurfing in the Banana River last Thursday, a day after Idalia made landfall with 125 mph (201 kph) winds across the state in Florida’s Big Bend region.

A windsurfer who went missing off Florida's Space Coast the day that Hurricane Idalia made landfall last week has been declared the state's second death from the Category 3 storm, officials said Wednesday.

The 60-year-old man went missing while windsurfing in the Banana River on Aug. 30, the day that Idalia made landfall with 125 mph (201 kph) winds across the state in Florida's remote Big Bend region, according to the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.

The other Idalia-related death in Florida confirmed by the state’s 25 local district medical examiners was in Gainesville, but officials didn't release details.

A man in Valdosta, Georgia, also died when a tree fell on him as he tried to clear another tree out of the road, according to the Lowndes County Sheriff Office.

Updated: September 7, 2023 at 1:00 PM EDT
This story was updated to correct that the windsurfer went missing on Aug. 30, the day Hurricane Idalia made landfall, instead of the day after.
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