Florida and Georgia residents living along Hurricane Idalia’s path of destruction on August 31 picked through piles of rubble where homes once stood, threw tarps over ripped-apart roofs and gingerly navigated streets left underwater or clogged with fallen trees and dangerous electric wires.

“My plan today is to go around and find anything that’s in the debris that is salvageable and clean out my storage shed,” said Aimee Firestine of Cedar Key, an island located in the remote Big Bend area where Idalia roared ashore with 125 mph (201 kph) winds Wednesday.

Ms. Firestine rode out Idalia about 40 minutes inland. When she drove back onto the island hours after the storm passed, her heart sank. The gas station was gone. Trees were toppled. Power lines were on the ground. An entire building belonging to the 12-unit Faraway Inn her family owns had been wiped away. Another building lost a wall.

“It was a little heart-wrenching and depressing,” Ms. Firestine said.

At Horseshoe Beach in central Big Bend, James Nobles returned to find his home had survived the storm, though many his neighbors weren’t as lucky.

“The town, I mean, it’s devastated,” Mr. Nobles said. “It’s probably 50 or 60 homes here, totally destroyed. I’m a lucky one, a few limbs on my house. But we’re going to build back. We’re going to be strong. We just got to rebuild. We can’t give up. My lifelong goal was to live on the water. And I’m not leaving just because the storm pushed me away.”

No hurricane-related deaths were officially confirmed in Florida, but the state’s highway patrol reported two people killed in separate weather-related crashes just hours before Idalia made landfall. A man in Valdosta, Georgia, died when a tree fell on him as he tried to clear another tree out of the road, Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk said.

As many as a half-million customers were without power at one point in Florida and Georgia as the storm ripped down utility poles.

The storm had 90 mph (145 kph) winds when it made a direct hit on Valdosta on Wednesday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said.

“We’re fortunate this storm was a narrow one, and it was fast moving and didn’t sit on us,” Mr. Kemp told a news conference Thursday in Atlanta. “But if you were in the path, it was devastating. And we’re responding that way.”

Desmond Roberson of Valdosta was shocked when he took a drive through the city of 55,000 with a friend to check out the damage. On one street, he said, a tree had fallen on nearly every house. Roads remained blocked by tree trunks and downed powerlines and traffic lights were still blacked out at major intersections.

“It’s a maze. … I had to turn around three times, just because roads were blocked off,” Mr. Roberson said.

Chris Exum, a farmer in the south Georgia town of Quitman, estimates that he lost half or more of his pecan crop from Idalia, which he said left “a wall of green” with downed trees and limbs.

Some of the trees are 40 to 50 years old, he noted. “It takes a long time to get back to that point.”

Rescue and repair efforts were in full force Thursday in Florida’s Big Bend area, where Idalia shredded homes, ripped off roofs, snapped tall trees, and turned streets into rivers.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis toured the area with his wife, Casey, and federal emergency officials.

“I’ve seen a lot of really heartbreaking damage,” he said, noting a church that had been swamped by more than 4 feet (1.2 meters) of water. “When you have your whole life’s work into, say, a business that ends up under 5 feet (of water) — that’s a lot of work that you’ve got to do going forward.”

Tammy Bryan, a member of the severely damaged First Baptist Church, said Horseshoe Beach residents consider themselves a family, one largely anchored by the church.

“It’s a breath of fresh air here,” Mr. Bryan said. “It’s beautiful sunsets, beautiful sunrises. We have all of old Florida right here. And today we feel like it’s been taken away.”

Marina worker Kerry Ford said he was glad so many people in Horseshoe Beach ultimately decided to evacuate. He said he had to convince several people to go.

“I have seen these storms and I told them, look, this is not one you want to stay for because I knew it was going to be catastrophic,” Mr. Ford said. “It wasn’t going to be much left. And if you stayed, your first thing, I ask them, can you all tread water for a couple of hours? Because that’s pretty much what it’s going to be.”

Despite the widespread destruction in the Big Bend, where Florida’s Panhandle curves into the peninsula, it provided only glancing blows to Tampa Bay and other more populated areas, DeSantis noted. In contrast, Hurricane Ian last year hit the heavily populated Fort Myers area, leaving 149 dead in the state.

President Joe Biden spoke to DeSantis and promised whatever federal aid is available. Biden also announced that he will go to Florida on Saturday to see the damage himself.

The president used a news conference at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s headquarters to send a message to Congress, especially those lawmakers who are balking at his request for $12 billion in emergency funding to respond to natural disasters.

“We need this disaster relief request met and we need it in September” after Congress returns from recess, said Biden, who had pizza delivered to FEMA employees who have been working around the clock on Idalia and the devastating wildfires on Maui, Hawaii.

Before heading out into the Atlantic Thursday, Idalia swung east, flooding many of South Carolina’s beaches and leaving some in the state and North Carolina without power. Forecasters said the weakened storm should continue heading away from the U.S. for several days, although officials in Bermuda warned that Idalia could hit the island early next week as a tropical storm.

In South Carolina, the storm coupled with already really high tides to send seawater flowing over sand dunes in nearly every beach town. In Charleston, Idalia’s surge topped part of the seawall that protects the downtown, sending ocean water into the streets and neighborhoods where horse-drawn carriages pass million-dollar homes and the famous open-air market.

Preliminary data showed the Wednesday evening high tide reached just over 9.2 feet (2.8 meters), more than 3 feet (0.9 meters) above normal and the fifth-highest reading in Charleston Harbor since records were first kept in 1899.

Bands from Idalia also brought short-lived tornadoes. One flipped a car in suburban Goose Creek, South Carolina, causing minor injuries, authorities said. No major damage was reported.

In southeastern North Carolina, more than 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain fell in Whiteville, flooding downtown buildings. The downpour swelled creeks and rivers and forecasters warned places downstream on the Pee Dee and Lumber rivers could flood, although it will be well below the historic crests that devastated entire towns after Hurricanes Florence and Matthew.

Florida:

Hurricane Idalia slammed into northwest Florida as an “extremely dangerous” Category 3 storm early Wednesday, as officials warned of catastrophic impacts including storm surges of up to 16 feet (about five meters).

Authorities in the southern US state described Idalia and its potentially deadly high surging waters as a once-in-a-lifetime event for Florida’s northwest coast, ordering mass evacuations and issuing flood alerts.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Idalia, which earlier raked western Cuba, was packing maximum sustained winds of approximately 125 miles (215 kilometers) per hour as it made landfall around 7:45 am (1145 GMT) in Florida’s marshy Big Bend area.

Unlike most other coastal regions in the state, Big Bend, located along the arch of the Gulf of Mexico, does not have barrier islands.

“This thing is powerful, if you’re inside, just hunker down until it gets past you,” DeSantis told a press conference just before landfall.

More than 140,000 customers in Florida were without electricity as of 8:00 am, according to tracking website PowerOutage.us.

“Extremely dangerous Category 3 Hurricane Idalia makes landfall in the Florida Big Bind,” the NHC said, noting that the eye made landfall near the community of Keaton Beach.

It warned of a possible disastrous storm surge of 12 to 16 feet in some coastal areas.

“Water levels along the coast of the Florida Big Bend are rising rapidly,” it warned, noting that at Cedar Key, a string of islands jutting into the Gulf, approximate inundation was at nearly six feet.

“While Idalia should weaken after landfall, it is likely to still be a hurricane while moving across southern Georgia, and near the coast of Georgia or southern South Carolina late today,” the NHC said.

– ‘Time to shelter in place’ –

“Very few people can survive being in the path of a major storm surge, and this storm will be deadly if we don’t get out of harm’s way and take it seriously,” said Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) chief Deanne Criswell.

In the small coastal town of Steinhatchee on Tuesday, resident Robert Bryant made final preparations to evacuate inland with his two cats and a dog.

“Hopefully, it just blows over and we have a bit of wind… but you prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” the 18-year-old student told AFP.

Another Steinhatchee resident, 71-year-old John Paul Nohelj, told AFP he would stay put.

“If you live near the water, you’re gonna get a wet butt once in a while,” he said, downplaying the risk.

The nearby cities of Tampa and Saint Petersburg, part of a metropolitan area that is home to more than three million people, are of particular concern, authorities said.

“There’s a danger of life-threatening storm surge along portions of the Florida Gulf Coast from Tampa Bay to the Big Bend region,” said Matthew Payne of FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery.

“The time to evacuate has come and gone. It is time to shelter in place,” Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey said Wednesday on NBC’s “Today” show.

– Airports, ports closed –

Mr DeSantis had urged residents of 23 counties along Florida’s Gulf coast to evacuate and head to shelters or hotels outside the danger zones.

The US presidential candidate said the hurricane was on track to be the strongest to impact the region in more than a century.

Meteorologists are also pointing to a rare blue supermoon which could further raise tides above normal levels just as Idalia pounds the coastline.

Almost 150 people were killed last year when Hurricane Ian slammed Florida’s west coast as a Category 4 storm, bringing ocean surges and strong winds that downed bridges and swept away buildings.

The storm is forecast to dump up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain in parts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, according to the NHC.

Tampa International Airport and other regional airports closed ahead of Idalia’s arrival, while flights were disrupted along the US East Coast as another hurricane, Franklin, churns in the Atlantic.

Several Florida ports were closed to vessel traffic on Tuesday night, according to the US Coast Guard.

– ‘Marine heat wave’ –

In Cuba, the storm flooded several communities including parts of the capital Havana and knocked out power to about 200,000 people but there were no deaths reported.

The storm then moved out over the Gulf of Mexico, which scientists say is experiencing a “marine heat wave” — energizing Idalia’s winds as it raced towards Florida.

Scientists have warned that storms are becoming more powerful as the world warms due to climate change.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hurricane Idalia is crawling towards the Florida Gulf Coast, forcing mass evacuations in low-lying areas that are expected to be swamped once the Category 3 storm makes landfall on Wednesday morning (local time). It is expected to intensify into a Category 4 storm. What’s concerning is that the rare super blue moon, that’s coinciding with the hurricane’s landfall, can play a role in exacerbating flooding from the storm. The moon will be closest to Earth on Wednesday, for the second time this month.

While a supermoon can make for a spectacular backdrop in photos of landmarks around the world, its intensified gravitational pull also makes tides higher. And its impact will be visible not only in Florida but in Georgia and South Carolina too, according to Sky News.

Known as a king tide, these higher tides are caused by the extra gravitational pull that occurs when the sun and moon align with Earth.

“I would say the timing is pretty bad for this one,” Brian Haines, the meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service office in Charleston, South Carolina, is quoted as saying by the outlet.

Idalia is expected to hit Florida’s coast at 6am (local time) on Wednesday.

New York Post said that the hurricane is still over 100 miles off the coast, but the rising tides have washed onto highways and overfilled canals.

Some users on X (formerly Twitter) have posted videos of the high-speed winds ripping through palm trees and kicking up miniature sand storms. NDTV cannot verify the authenticity of these viral clips.

At 11 pm on Tuesday, Idalia was carrying maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (177 kmph) and moving north at 18 mph (29 kmph), the National Hurricane Centre said.