Maritime ports and intermodal hubs across parts of Florida and the Southeast are buckling down today to prepare the arrival of hurricane-force winds and drenching rains from Tropical Storm Idalia, which is forecast to strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane as it spins across the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Landfall is expected during the day on Wednesday just north of Tampa Bay as the storm system marches toward potential targets including the ports of Jacksonville, Savannah, Charleston, and Bermuda, according to the supply chain risk analysis firm Everstream Analytics.
The storm is set to trigger high impacts across northern Florida and parts of Georgia, including heavy rainfall and strong winds that could disrupt business operations and supply chain activities, the firm said. Lower impacts will also strike coastal South Carolina, which could feel heavy rainfall and gusty winds.
While Idalia is still a tropical storm at present, it is forecasted to rapidly intensify through a period of “explosive strengthening” according to storm trackers with Accuweather.
"The storm is expected to continue to strengthen in the southern and eastern Gulf of Mexico in the coming days as it becomes more organized amid very high ocean water temperatures and low wind shear," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said in a release. "AccuWeather meteorologists are concerned that this system could strengthen rapidly up until the point of landfall as it moves across an area of very high ocean temperatures in the Gulf. This will pose an extra risk to Florida since preparations for an intense hurricane may need to be completed very quickly."
In preparation, leaders at the Port of Jacksonville on Monday said they were monitoring the approaching storm, which the local U.S. Coast Guard is expecting to produce sustained gale force winds associated with tropical cyclone activity within 48 hours.
