Editorial: Idalia’s predicted impact is minimal, but it’s best to be prepared

Forecasters predict that Hampton Roads will experience heavy rain and gusty wind along with flooding — both as a result of a storm surge and higher tides due to the full moon — when the remnants of Hurricane Idalia pass by in the next 24-48 hours.

Chances are, that’s all we’ll see. But residents here know that tropical systems can be unpredictable, and that preparation now can pay off enormously should the worst of the weather hit.

Meteorologists predict Hampton Roads should avoid the most dangerous effects of the system that slammed into the Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday. Idalia made landfall at about 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday near Keaton Beach as a high-end Category 3 hurricane, with winds of 125 mph. It’s the first time a storm so powerful has directly struck that part of Florida.

Sunshine State residents commonly shrug off warnings of a tropical system bearing down on them, but predictions of a storm surge as high as 15 feet spoke to the urgency of the situation. Florida has been walloped by hurricanes in recent years, so the nation should hope for residents’ safety and be poised to help quickly.

Idalia was moving east toward the Atlantic, with Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina all in its path. The Outer Banks could see heavy rainfall with flash flooding, wind gusts up to 55 mph and a storm surge of 2-4 feet along the Pamlico Sound.

That assumes the storm sticks to the forecast. Hampton Roads doesn’t need a long memory to recall the remnants of Hurricane Matthew in 2016, which was expected to turn out to sea. Instead, the system moved across the region, dumping record rainfall on a landscape saturated by two previous tropical systems.

The result was heartbreakingly familiar: widespread flooding that damaged or destroyed thousands of homes, primarily in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Norfolk. Some families were displaced for months; others will never overcome the financial and emotional hardship.

So it’s best to be prepared, even when the forecasts predict only mild effects from a storm. It won’t take much rain to cause flooding, and it might not take strong winds to fell electric poles or affect other energy infrastructure.

Complicating things for our friends in Florida — and potentially here in Hampton Roads as well — is that the storm coincides with Wednesday’s “supermoon,” when the moon is closer to the Earth than at any time in its orbit. That translates to higher tides than normal and the potential for catastrophic storm surges.

Coastal communities throughout the south are preparing for extreme tidal flooding in addition to the torrential rains this tropical disturbance is expected to deliver. That should include folks here, who should be checking storm supplies, reviewing their emergency plan and getting ready — just in case.

The Virginia Department of Emergency Management website, vaemergency.gov, includes suggestions for building an emergency kit, preparing a family plan and important details in case of evacuation. The American Red Cross also has useful preparedness tips, available at redcross.org.

Don’t think that effort will be wasted if Idalia slides by to the south. Researchers revised their pre-hurricane season prediction of an active year in the Atlantic to an above-active year. On Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center was tracking five active tropical systems.

One other important thing to remember: Don’t drive through floodwaters. As little as 6 inches of moving water can shove a car off the road and trying to traverse floodwaters is the cause of so many storm-related deaths.

Repairing a flooded car can be an enormous expense, if it’s even possible. And removing an abandoned vehicle from a flooded street unfairly commands the time of first responders, who likely have more pressing concerns. Don’t put yourself or emergency personnel in that situation.

Hampton Roads has cause for preparation, not panic. Rely on your emergency plan, pay attention to developments and forecasts, and stay well clear of flooded streets, which will almost certainly be plentiful when Idalia’s remnants roll through the area.