Florida Residents 'Swimming Out of Their Windows' as Water Engulfs Homes

Hurricane Idalia wreaked havoc when it landed in Florida Wednesday morning, and the flooding was so severe in Crystal River that residents reportedly had to swim out of their windows to escape the water.

Forecasters warned Floridians for days that Idalia would quickly strengthen in the warm Gulf water as it moved past Cuba and approached the state. It made landfall at about 7:45 a.m. ET near Keaton Beach in Taylor County, about 75 miles southeast of Tallahassee. It has since been downgraded to a Category 1 as it moves toward Georgia.

One of the most dangerous aspects of the storm is the storm surge, or the rise in sea level that occurs during a hurricane. There also was a supermoon overnight, meaning that high tides were already a foot higher than normal, adding more damage potential.

Two residents fleeing Crystal River were stopped by MSNBC anchor José Díaz-Balart on their way out of the city. The residents, identified only as Phil and Brenda, told Díaz-Balart about the flooding, which was so severe that people apparently were swimming out of their windows.

"The water is probably to the ceiling of our house right now," Phil said.

"I think we've lost everything," Brenda added.

The residents said that they thought there were still half a dozen people trying to flee their homes as the buildings were filling with water. They commented on how quickly the water rose.

Even after they escaped their home, Phil and Brenda still faced extreme flooding. In Díaz-Balart's video, the floodwaters were so high that they reached midway on the residents' Jeep Wrangler's tires.

Newsweek reached out to the City of Crystal River and the Citrus County Sheriff's Department by phone for comment.

Videos of severe flooding inundated social media on Wednesday as the storm made its way through Florida. In some areas, the storm surge was so severe that it broke through a condominium's door. Winds ravaged trees, at times snapping them in half. Seawater was so high that it spread across the Howard Frankland Bridge, which connects St. Petersburg to Tampa over Old Tampa Bay.

AccuWeather senior meteorologist Adam Douty told Newsweek that the storm surge reached 10 feet at Horseshoe Beach in Dixie County, but it was forecast to exceed 12 feet in some areas along Florida's Big Bend.

Storm surge is the deadliest aspect of a hurricane, as many people are unprepared for how quickly the water rises.

"Surge is a special threat that sometimes not as many people have seen it," AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter previously told Newsweek. "We have all seen rain and wind and kind of have a sense of how bad that can be. Surge on average not as many people have seen and how quickly that water level can come up. It tends to catch people who are unprepared off guard."

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