WATCH: Transformer blows in Florida’s Big Bend as Hurricane Idalia nears landfall

Brenda Argueta, Digital Journalist

PERRY, Fla. – Transformers blew up Wednesday morning near Florida’s Big Bend region as Idalia, a massive Category 3 hurricane, approached the coast.

Idalia strengthened into a Category 4 storm before weakening to a Category 3 ahead of landfall.

News 6′s Erik Von Ancken was reporting live in Perry, Florida, when a transformer blew up behind him.

“That behind me is the third transformer to blow here,” Erik said.

Whoa! WATCH: @ErikNews6 is LIVE in #Perry where transformers are blowing up one by one. Stay with @news6wkmg for live coverage throughout the morning. Hurricane #Idalia is making landfall soon! pic.twitter.com/SjYwTkvU1x

The Big Bend region, where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula, lightly populated, relatively speaking, but the result could be a big blow to a state still dealing with lingering damage from last year’s Hurricane Ian.

[STORY CONTINUES BELOW]

[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]

The National Weather Service in Tallahassee called Idalia “an unprecedented event” since no major hurricanes on record have ever passed through the bay abutting the Big Bend.

Hurricanes are measured on a five category scale, with a Category 5 being the strongest. A Category 3 storm is the first on the scale considered a major hurricane. The National Hurricane Center says “catastrophic damage will occur” during a Category 4 storm.

Once it makes landfall, Idalia will head northeast and east-northeast, moving along the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Meteorologist Jonathan Kegges provides the latest information about everything happening in the tropics.

Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily:

PERRY, Fla.