Hurricane Idalia materialized as a radar smudge off the Yucatan.. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
 
 

The intersection of Cross and Athens streets off Dodecanese Boulevard in Tarpon Springs, Fla., was still flooded around noon on Aug. 29, 2023, more than 12 hours after Hurricane Idalia churned past 125 miles to the west the night before. (John Haughey/The Epoch Times)

The Plan or Something Like That


Through Monday, tracks projected landfalls near Homosassa and Crystal River, about 80-to-100 miles north of Tampa Bay, with storm surges of up to 12 feet in the swampy Nature Coast and of at least 4-to-8 feet in Tampa Bay, already plagued by tidal “day flooding.”


And so, also in that Monday-to-midday-Tuesday window, editors, reporters, and television camera crews were making decisions, gearing up, securing flights, renting cars, preparing to cover the hurricane crashing ashore.


To boost The Epoch Times’ Florida staff spearheaded by Nanette Holt with T.J. Muscaro in the Tampa Bay area and Samantha Flom in Jacksonville—a team that would go on to document Idalia’s cross-state romp—EpochTV videographer Shenghua Sung was dispatched from New York.


I was to join Shenghua from my home in Lakeland, 35 miles east of Tampa, and we were to go where the action was. Or something like that.

There were some logistical challenges with this plan. Namely, Shenghua flew into Orlando, arriving Tuesday evening, and when he contacted me that night, he was already in Tampa Bay, already headed out to St. Petersburg and Clearwater, where Idalia was churning 125 miles off the beaches.


By now, of course, Idalia’s projected track had been steadily ticking north, into the Big Bend area. It was apparent by late Tuesday, early Wednesday, that Tallahassee would have been the place to launch a landfall foray.


And that was fine with me. I know this about hurricane coverage: There is the event and then there is the story. You can miss the event, but you can tell the story.

 

All that remains of the 78-lot Gulf View Colony mobile home park off Estero Boulevard in Ft. Myers Beach, Fla., is rubble, clawed earth, and this directory of neighbors who are neighbors no more, five months after Hurricane Ian swamped Estero Island in an 18-foot storm surge. (John Haughey/The Epoch Times)

More than 14 hours after Hurricane Idalia passed west of Homosassa, Florida, this Los Angeles, California-based Australian Broadcast Co. news team was telling the story on Aug. 30 of the flooded Homosassa River, more than 120 miles south of where the storm made its landfall. (John Haughey/The Epoch Times)

 
 

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