Boats Crash Into Bridge After Hurricane Idalia Reverses River

New video of the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia shows a strong storm surge pulling sailboats directly into a bridge.

The surge reversed the Steinhatchee River that forms a boundary between Florida’s Dixie and Taylor counties prior to entering the Gulf of Mexico off the Big Bend, according to footage posted by documentarian Jonathan Petramala.

He told Newsweek on Wednesday that the water in Steinhatchee rose about 8 feet, which prevented the sailboats from successfully making it under the bridge, unscathed. Their masts were broken off.

“Weird storm as it was weakening at landfall, but the back side was still very robust,” said Petramala, a Tampa native, while documenting footage in another hard-hit city, Crystal River. “Impressive amount of storm surge into Steinhatchee, literally changed the flow of the river at low tide.

“Terrible for the people that live there, and the worst storm since the late 1800s there…It was very dangerous but most people weren’t there. Most people left.”

Hurricane Idalia was a Category 3 when it hit landfall on Wednesday morning, hitting notable seaside communities like Cedar Key which may ultimately experience the worst brunt of the storm due to the ongoing storm surge.

Hundreds of thousands of Floridians are reportedly without power. The federal government is providing aid not only to Florida but Georgia and the Carolinas pending how the storm impacts those states.

More than 1,500 federal workers are part of the storm response efforts, including providing millions of meals and liters of water. The U.S. Coast Guard is assisting with search and rescue efforts while the Red Cross is on the ground to assist with shelter for those who are displaced.

The Gulf Coastal community of Steinhatchee, home to 537 residents as of the 2020 Census, experienced severe flooding of its community roads and marina due to the Category 3 Idalia ripping through portions of the Gulf coastline.

Local news station WJXT posted video on X, formerly Twitter, showing the extensive impact of the storm surge in Steinhatchee. Water levels were so high that they nearly touched power lines and the roofs of homes.

WJXT reporter Vic Micolucci wrote on X that some city businesses experienced 6 feet of water, while homes in neighboring Horseshoe Beach were inundated with some 10 feet of water.

The National Weather Service’s (NWS) Tallahassee station had issued an extreme wind advisory for Steinhatchee that concluded at 9:15 a.m. today. Winds were harsh and supposed to be treated as highly hazardous.

As of this afternoon, winds in the region were still hitting up to 40 miles per hour and the seeking of shelter in sturdy structures was still encouraged.

Steinhatchee resident Daniel Dickert, whose home was relatively unscathed compared to others, told the Tampa Bay Times that this is the highest he has ever seen the water in his decades of living there.

Petramala said water in Crystal River as of late Wednesday afternoon was about 2-3 feet. The downtown was flooded and some people were seen kayaking to safety.

Wind levels have leveled off, he added, describing them as a “stiff breeze” coming from the West. The surge itself is “not tsunami-like” as he experienced during Hurricane Ian in September 2022, he added.

“It was a powerful hurricane on top of an astronomical high tide,” he said.