REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Aug 28 (Reuters) - 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.
Idalia is predicted to transform into a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale when it makes landfall in northern Florida's Big Bend area, where the panhandle transitions into the peninsula, the National Hurricane Center said.
About 20 million Floridians are under hurricane and tropical storm watches, and authorities have begun issuing evacuation orders.
Shares of NextEra Energy Inc (NEE.N), which owns the Florida Power & Light Company, the state's largest utility, was little changed at $68.06, up 0.154%.
Duke Energy Corp (DUK.N) 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.
Persons:
Dado Ruvic, Idalia, Here's, Ron DeSantis, –, Owens Corning, Chibuike Oguh, Lance Tupper, Nick Zieminski
Organizations:
REUTERS, Simpson, National Hurricane Center, POWER Florida, NextEra Energy Inc, Florida Power & Light Company, Duke Energy Corp, Generac Holdings, Universal Insurance Holdings, Allstate Corporation, American International, Home, Lowe's, Thomson
Locations:
Florida, Coast, Big, New York