The worst of Hurricane Idalia left residents of a region of tight-knit communities trying to find places to live as they rebuild -- if they decide it's even worth it -- and waiting potentially weeks for electricity to be restored after winds and water took out entire power grids.
Idalia came ashore Wednesday in Florida's sparsely populated Big Bend region, where places to fish and paddle are connected by swamps.
Two days after the more powerful Hurricane Ian hit southwest Florida last year around Fort Myers, for instance, the state reported more than 62,000 insurance claims. In the two days after Idalia, there have been about 3,000, Patronis said. The Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative warned its 28,000 customers to prepare to be without power for two weeks after hundreds of poles snapped, with thousands of reports of damage and downed lines. The utility was bringing in hundreds more workers for repairs and setting up generators for some restaurants and others.
One Georgia resident died when a tree fell on him as he tried to clear another tree from a road. Officials said there appeared to be a storm-related death around Gainesville, Florida, but did not release details. Not only was about half of south Georgia's pecan crop damaged -- Idalia knocked over entire trees, ruining farms for many years, Georgia Agricultural Commissioner Tyler Harper said.
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