The storm surge from Hurricane Idalia is having surreal effects in Florida.

The sudden influx of water caused the Steinhatchee River in Florida’s Big Bend region to reverse course, flowing inland and slamming unmoored boats until a highway overpass bridge.

Watch below via Jonathan Petramala.

Flood waters prevented Florida firefighters from reaching a home that was on fire before it was too late in Hernando Beach, north of Tampa.

Crews were bale to reach the blaze later on Wednseday and put out remaining hot spots, according to Fox 13.

Hurricane Idalia made landfall on Wednesday, killing at least two people.

Airbnb’s cancellation rules have angered users who learned they wouldn’t be getting their money back after having to cancel their Florida stays because of Hurricane Idalia.

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As the global average temperature increases, largely due to the carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels, the ocean is taking a major hit.

The ocean has absorbed 90 per cent of warming in recent decades and all that extra heat is driving historically high water temperatures.

Warmer waters supercharge tropical cyclones with more heavy rainfall and storm surge as they come ashore.

While the frequency of hurricanes of tropical storms is not increasing, the chance that they become stronger, more destructive systems has increased by about 8 per cent per decade in the past 40 years, according to climate scientists.

The proportion of Category 4 and 5 tropical cyclones is projected to increase around the world in the coming decades due to human-caused warming, according to the latest report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from 1 June to 30 November, is forecast to be above average this year.

Hurricane Idalia has been downgraded to a tropical storm as it makes its way across the southeastern US.

Currently positioned to the northwest of Savannah, Georgia, the system is expected to move out to sea sometime overnight along the South Carolina coastline tracking past Charleston and Myrtle Beach.

Florida residents shared heartbreaking photos of the destruction caused by Hurricane Idalia after the powerful storm swept into the state on Wednesday.

Idalia made landfall around 8am as an “extremely dangerous” Category 3 storm with 120mph winds and warnings of “catastrophic” coastal surge up to 15 feet in places. More than 250,000 customers were left without power on Wednesday.

The hurricane came ashore near Keaton Beach in Big Bend, southeast of Tallahassee, an area known as “Florida’s nature coast” and less densely populated than other parts of the state.

But that was cold comfort for the small, tranquil communities dotting the coastline with Idalia forecast to be the strongest storm to hit the region in more than 100 years.

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The National Hurricane Center advises that Idalia has now been downgraded to a tropical storm.

The risk of freshwater flooding, storm surge, and strong winds continues across portions of Georgia and North and South Carolina.