Florida residents are evacuating their homes and building sandbag flood defenses as weather system Idalia approaches the state's west coast. The storm has now been upgraded to a hurricane - and is joined by a hurricane further east.

The heavy rain brought by Idalia has already hit Cuba, forcing around 8,000 residents of the province of Pinar del Rio to leave their homes to seek shelter.

Idalia is now heading towards Florida, where hurricane-force winds are expected to begin to affect it late Tuesday. Idalia is then expected to move in over the state's west coast on Wednesday.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency in 46 of the state's 67 counties, warning that the storm's impact could be significant, noting that Idalia could become a Category 3 hurricane on the five-point scale.

Much of Florida's west coast is at risk of storm surge and flooding, and warnings have been issued for several areas. Residents in Pasco and Levy, north of Tampa, have been ordered to evacuate. The US National Hurricane Center in Miami has issued a hurricane warning from Longboat Key in the Sarasota area to the Holocene River, up past Tampa Bay.

Tampa International Airport and Saint Pete-Clearwater Airport will be closed on Tuesday.

Many schools, colleges and universities in the areas expected to be affected are also closing again.

Idalia is the first storm to hit Florida this year's hurricane season. At the same time, an even stronger hurricane, named Franklin, is building up east of the United States. It is an almost unique situation with two such large storms at the same time so early in the season.

Franklin, however, is not at all the same danger to society at large, as it is heading northeast - the first major landmass it will hit is Iceland this weekend, and then in a weakened form. However, the NHC hurricane center still warns of strong winds and currents in the edge of the hurricane, along the east coast of the United States and Canada, during the week.

Source:TT.DI.SE