Cubans evacuated from homes as the island braces for Hurricane Idalia

Hurricane Idalia barreled towards the west coast of Florida on Tuesday, triggering mass evacuation orders and flood alerts as authorities warned the storm could strengthen to "extremely dangerous" levels before landfall.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Idalia, a Category 1 storm with winds of 85 miles per hour, was churning off Florida's southwest shore, bringing tropical storm conditions to western Cuba and flooding in Havana.