After battering Cuba with torrential rain on Tuesday, Idalia intensified into a hurricane, posing a threat to send a fatal storm surge and hazardous winds on Florida's Gulf Coast. Prepared for a hurricane with sustained gusts of up to 120 mph (193 kph), Florida homeowners gathered sandbags and left their low-lying homes along the Gulf Coast. This was done in anticipation of a storm that the National Hurricane Center predicted would occur. That would make it a Category 3 storm, which could give a serious blow to a state already recovering from storm Ian's aftereffects.