HOMOSASSA, Fla. (WJW) – Hurricane Idalia’s landfall on Florida’s gulf coast is causing major flooding near the coast as a ‘perfect storm’ combination with king tide.

Many residents are transplants from Northeast Ohio who moved away to escape harsh winters.

Warren native Mary Ann Rhodes and her husband Jay have settled down in Homosassa, just about an hour north of Tampa and an hour south of Cedar Key, where Idalia directly hit.

“At 3 a.m. it was high tide, full moon and that’s about right when the hurricane passed us, so it was like the perfect storm,” Rhodes said.

Those conditions are known as king tide, a mix of high tide and a full moon. Residents near the coast could see water as high as eight to 11 feet above typical high tide levels.

“We’re getting that surge now, and it’s going to be even worst after 2 p.m.,” she said earlier. “They’re just telling us to shelter in place until they give us the all-clear to move about.”

Clearwater resident Shannon Lucarelli lives near Clearwater Beach, which she said is completely covered due to the high tide.

“Clearwater Beach is the Gulf of Mexico,” Lucarelli said.

Lucarelli is originally from Cleveland’s West Park neighborhood. She expects conditions to only worsen. Luckily she hasn’t been drastically impacted by the high waters, but said power was turned off as a precaution.

Todd Gilligan is a Fort Myers resident, who is also riding out the storm. He is also seeing flooding nearby due to high tides.

“When I say flooding, I mean near Fort Myers Beach,” Gilligan said over Instagram. “The streets are all full of water because of the high tide coming in right now still.”

Many residents are staying hunkered down. Rhodes is riding out her second hurricane in as many years since moving, after surviving Ian last year.

“We’re just staying home. We’re not going to venture out and try to get pictures or anything and be in anybody’s way. We’ll just wait for the all-clear,” she said.

Hurricane Idalia is moving through Georgia as a Category 1 hurricane, into parts of South Carolina and is expected to move out to sea by Thursday morning.