Hurricane Idalia skirted the western coast of Cuba early this morning as it closed in on Florida’s west coast, where it’s expected to rapidly intensify ahead of its landfall Wednesday as a Category 3 storm with potentially life-threatening storm surges. Most of Florida’s Gulf Coast remains under hurricane or tropical storm warnings, with evacuation orders issued for residents in low-lying areas of several counties, including the greater Tampa Bay region, which has avoided a direct hurricane impact for nearly a century. Idalia is expected to bring up to 12 feet of storm surge to Florida’s Big Bend region.