CROSS CITY, Fla. (AP) — An elderly man who was cleaning up debris from Hurricane Idalia in northern Florida when a tree fell on him has been declared the state’s third fatality from the Category 3 storm, officials said Thursday.
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the 90-year-old man died Tuesday in Dixie County after a tree fell on a tractor he was operating. Hurricane Idalia hit the remote Big Bend region of Florida with winds of 125 mph (201 km/h) across the state.
Other Idalia-related deaths in Florida confirmed by the state’s 25 coroners include a man who died in a traffic accident near Gainesville, hours before Idalia made landfall on August 30, and a windsurfer who went missing the same day off Florida’s Space Coast.
According to the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, a man in Valdosta, Georgia also died when a tree fell on him as he attempted to clear another tree from the road.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for three Georgia counties on Thursday after Hurricane Idalia hit southern and coastal Georgia on August 30. The storm made landfall in the remote Big Bend region of Florida with winds of 125 mph (201 km/h) before moving north into Georgia.
Biden initially approved aid for individuals and governments in Cook, Glynn and Lowndes counties. He also approved assistance to seven Florida counties after Idalia and added six more.
Lowndes County, home to the city of Valdosta, suffered the worst damage. Estimates suggest that 80 homes were destroyed and 835 homes suffered severe damage as wind speeds reached nearly 70 miles per hour (113 km/h).
A man in Valdosta died when a tree fell on him as he tried to clear another tree from a road, sheriff’s deputies said.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, in a letter sent Wednesday, called for help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for governments in 30 counties and individuals in the three counties Biden approved and added Appling County.
The Georgia Emergency Management Agency expects more counties to be added and additional types of assistance to be provided.
“This assistance will quickly be put to good use to help those affected by Hurricane Idalia,” Kemp said in a statement. “We will not stop demanding more aid until every county in Georgia that suffered damage receives a federal disaster declaration and the relief Georgians deserve.”
Assistance for individuals may include cash to pay for temporary housing and repairs, as well as low-cost loans to repair uninsured property. For local governments and electric cooperatives, FEMA will help reimburse debris removal costs, pay emergency responders, and repair public infrastructure.
Kemp estimated that Georgia governments have suffered at least $41 million in damage to public infrastructure, well above the $19 million threshold required statewide for a disaster declaration.
Individuals and business owners in the tri-county area can seek assistance online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, by phone at 1-800-621-3362 or through the FEMA app.
Photo: Boat owners and staff at Bull River Marina as Hurricane Idalia moved toward Savannah, Georgia, on August 31. (Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)
Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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