Idalia has strengthened into a hurricane as it barrels toward Florida’s Gulf Coast. Authorities are warning residents of vulnerable areas to pack up and leave to escape the twin threats of high winds and devastating flooding. Idalia was churning in the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 1 storm, but it was projected to come ashore early Wednesday as a Category 3 system with sustained winds of up to 120 mph. The most likely location for landfall is in the lightly populated Big Bend region, where the Florida Panhandle bends into the peninsula.