Watch: NASA satellite captures view of Hurricane Idalia
- Idalia weakened to a tropical storm by late Wednesday afternoon
- It's expected to move through South Carolina on Wednesday night
- More than 20 Florida counties issued evacuation orders
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(NewsNation) — NASA is sharing stunning footage from their satellite of Hurricane Idalia on Tuesday.
External cameras on the International Space Station captured views of Idalia strengthening at 11:35 a.m. EDT on Tuesday.
The satellite flew 260 miles over the eastern Gulf of Mexico southwest of Florida when Idalia was a Category 1 storm with winds of 85 mph, according to NASA.
Idalia reached the Big Bend area of Florida as an “extremely dangerous” Category 3 storm around 7:45 a.m. Wednesday with winds speeds reaching up to 125 mph.
The system remained a hurricane as it crossed into Georgia with top winds of 90 mph. It weakened to a tropical storm by late Wednesday afternoon, and its winds had dropped to 65 mph by Wednesday evening, the National Hurricane Center said.
As Idalia blew into Florida, rushing water covered streets near the coast and unmoored small boats, and nearly a half-million customers in Florida and Georgia lost power.
NewsNation’s Devan Markham and Andrew Dorn contributed to this report.