STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOSNEW YORK - Florida is bracing for Tropical Storm Idalia as it intensifies into a major hurricane on Monday before making landfall on the state's Gulf Coast by Wednesday morning.
About 20 million Floridians are under hurricane and tropical storm watches, and authorities have begun issuing evacuation orders.Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on Monday areas on the storm's path are expected to lose power. Duke Energy Corp said on Monday it is mobilizing approximately 4,500 people - power line technicians, vegetation workers, damage assessors and support personnel – to respond to power outages as Idalia reaches Florida. Duke's stock on the session was off 0.4%.