In Florida, Idalia leaves a trail of destruction and a sense of relief

Tim Delaino didn’t even consider leaving his home as Hurricane Idalia approached this week. His family has been in Cedar Key, a little island city in the Gulf of Mexico, for five generations, and they have weathered dozens of storms.

“People say, ‘Why don’t you leave?’ But we don’t leave for storms. We never do,” said Delaino, one of about 100 residents who defied evacuation orders and were dubbed “seasoned and salty” by the local sheriff’s office. “We’ve gotten along just fine.”