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Some communities across Florida’s west coast battered by Idalia’s deluge and ferocious winds endured a “life-changing event,” an official says, after the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the Big Bend region in at least 125 years delivered record water levels, damaging thousands of homes in its path.
Idalia, after making landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday morning, also pummeled parts of southeast Georgia and the Carolinas, flooding coastal areas and leaving hundreds of thousands of power outages.
By early Thursday morning, Idalia had weakened to a tropical storm that was causing flash flooding in parts of eastern North Carolina and threatened more of the same through the morning, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm wreaked havoc as it smashed into Florida’s Big Bend area – the region between the panhandle and peninsula – near Keaton Beach on Wednesday morning, ripping roofs off buildings and flooding homes as it pushed feet of seawater onshore along a wide swath of the state’s west coast.
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Many of the areas that bore the brunt of the storm aren’t equipped to handle such a powerful hurricane, US Rep. Jared Moskowitz said Wednesday night.
“In those areas, a lot of them are fiscally constrained. They don’t necessarily have the resources,” Moskowitz, who represents a South Florida district and used to lead the state’s Division of Emergency Management, told CNN.
“There are some communities that may never look the same and others that will get rebuilt that will look slightly different,” Moskowitz said. “This is a life-changing event for some of these counties.”
In pictures: Hurricane Idalia
Officials urged thousands to evacuate before storm surge caused several record-high water levels from Tampa Bay through the Big Bend. The storm also downed power lines and caused flooding in parts of Georgia and South Carolina, including Charleston, and North Carolina, where flash flooding was reported early Thursday in Wilmington.
In Charleston, the storm tore down trees and led officials to close flooded roads, police said. Water also breached dunes at South Carolina’s Edisto Beach, the National Weather Service said.
There was “one unconfirmed fatality” in Florida in the storm’s aftermath, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday.
Two men were killed in two separate crashes Wednesday morning during severe storm conditions from Idalia, Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Steve Gaskins said earlier. Gaskins noted both deaths were weather-related. It’s unclear whether DeSantis was referring to one of these crashes. CNN has reached out to the agencies for clarification.
Another death was reported in Georgia’s Lowndes County, where a man died after a tree fell on him as he cut a tree on a highway, sheriff Ashley Paulk told CNN.
A tropical storm warning remains in effect for South Santee River northward to the North Carolina-Virginia border, including Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, as of 5 a.m. ET Thursday. A storm surge watch is in effect for Beaufort Inlet to Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina, as well as the Neuse and Pamlico rivers.
Here are other developments from the storm as of early Thursday:
Over the Carolinas: Tropical Storm Idalia’s center was about 20 miles southwest of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph as of 2 a.m. ET Thursday. The storm is forecast to move just offshore of North Carolina’s coast later Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said.
North Carolina flooding: Between 2 and 5 inches of rain fell across portions of the southeastern parts of the state, including the Wilmington area, where a flash flood warning was in effect early Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. Parts of Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover and Pender counties were under the warning.
Flood rescues: First responders rescued about 150 residents from flooded neighborhoods in Florida’s hard-hit Pasco County, north of Tampa, the county fire rescue chief said. Some areas saw water surges between 3 and 5 feet.
Thousands of homes damaged: Between 4,000 and 6,000 homes were inundated with water in Florida’s Pasco County alone, according to county administrator Mike Carballa.
Historic water levels: South Carolina’s Charleston Harbor saw water its waters spike to higher than 9 feet, making it the fifth highest level ever recorded, according to the National Weather Service said. Cedar Key, East Bay Tampa, Clearwater Beach and St. Petersburg in Florida also experienced record storm surges.
Thousands in the dark: As of early Thursday, about 143,000 homes and businesses were without power in Florida. Another 126,000 outages were in Georgia, about 34,000 were reported in South Carolina, and about 18,000 were in North Carolina, according to tracking site PowerOutage.us.
Residents urged to stay indoors: Florida officials are urging residents to avoid being outdoors as cleanup and search efforts remain underway. Taylor County Sheriff Wayne Padgett cited the dangers of downed trees and power lines.
Boil water advisory: Some areas in DeSoto, Dixie, Leon, Levy, Marion and Taylor counties in Florida are under boil water notices issued by the state’s health department.
Some school districts to reopen: At least 30 of 52 school districts that closed ahead of the storm will be open again Thursday, DeSantis said. Eight districts are set to reopen Friday.
Idalia is expected to maintain its tropical storm status as it moves off the East Coast on Thursday morning. Still, the threat of storm surge persists, and tropical storm warnings remain primarily across southeastern North Carolina.
“The combination of storm surge and tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline,” the hurricane center said in its 2 a.m. update Thursday.
Storm surge occurs when powerful winds from a storm push water on to the land, causing water levels to rise.
Rainfall over eastern South Carolina through eastern North Carolina could range between a total of 4 to 8 inches, with some places seeing up to 10 inches.
“These rainfall amounts will continue to lead to areas of flash, urban, and moderate river flooding, with considerable impacts,” the hurricane center explained.
Additionally, isolated tornadoes are possible across North Carolina’s coastal areas.
Meanwhile, central Florida could see an additional 1 to 2 inches of rain Thursday.
On Wednesday, storm surge whipped up by Idalia set records for highest water level in several locations in Florida.
In Cedar Key, an island town about 80 miles north of Tampa, storm surge reached 8.9 feet, surpassing the 5.99 feet record set in 2016 from Hurricane Hermine.
Storm surge in Tampa’s East Bay was 5.7 feet Wednesday, roughly 2 feet higher than record seen in 2020 from Tropical Storm Eta.
And in Clearwater Beach, storm surge from Idalia reached 5.2 feet, eclipsing the 4.02 feet from the 1993 “Storm of the Century” that also snowed in much of the East Coast.
