Idalia’s Late Turn Spared Tallahassee

ATLANTA (AP) — In the final hours before Hurricane Idalia struck Florida, experts say its eye experienced a phenomenon that kept it from further intensifying. Just after came another twist: A last-minute turn sparing the state’s capital city of Tallahassee from far more serious devastation. Idalia had grown into a Category 4 monster lurking off Florida’s west coast before dawn Wednesday, and the forecast called for it to continue intensifying up until landfall. But as the sun rose an hour later, there was evidence the hurricane began replacing the wall around its eye — and maximum winds had dropped to near 125 mph.