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Tropical Storm Idalia continued to bring heavy rains to South Carolina and posed a risk of sending storm surge ashore, hours after it made landfall in western Florida as a Category 3 hurricane, officials said.
The hurricane destroyed homes and flooded coastal communities in Florida, and at least one death there, a car crash, was blamed on the weather, officials said.
As a tropical storm, Idalia flooded parts of Charleston, and the harbor in the South Carolina city recorded its fifth-highest peak tide Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service.
Big Bend counties bore the brunt of the storm, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference.
“We haven’t had a storm take this path at this level since the 1890s, that hit this part of Florida, so this is something that that is a really big deal,” DeSantis said.
Around 150,000 customers were without electricity in Florida late Wednesday, and around 149,000 were without power in Georgia, according to tracking website poweroutage.us.
More on Hurricane Idalia
- Idalia made landfall in Florida's Big Bend near Keaton Beach just before 8 a.m. ET., with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph.
- The storm has flooded streets, closed airports and canceled flights, as well as caused widespread power outages.
- Idalia is now a tropical storm after it briefly reached Category 4 hurricane status overnight.
- Storm surge warnings and watches have been ended for Florida. The hurricane watches for Georgia and South Carolina have also ended. A tropical storm warning remains in effect for parts of the Savannah River and two North Carolina sounds.
- NBC News has a team on the ground reporting on the hurricane's impact.
Around 330,000 customers without power in Florida, Georgia, S.C.
Power outage numbers improved in Florida and Georgia after Idalia, but around 300,000 customers in the two states remained in the dark late tonight after the storm, according to the tracking website poweroutage.us.
South Carolina, where the storm was centered late tonight, had around 35,000 customers without power, according to the website.
Earlier today, around 440,000 customers had been without electricity in Florida and Georgia combined.
Idalia to move offshore tomorrow, forecasters say
Tropical Storm Idalia is forecast to move “near or along the coast” of South Carolina tonight and offshore sometime tomorrow, the National Hurricane Center said.
In an 11 p.m. update, the agency said the storm was moving northeast at 21 mph.
It is forecast to remain a tropical storm even as it moves offshore, the hurricane center said.
There had been some discussions earlier today as to whether it would weaken, according to forecast discussions, but the NHC said its forecast had the storm remaining as a tropical storm.
Idalia northwest of Charleston, producing ‘very heavy rain’
Idalia remained a tropical storm late today and was producing “very heavy rain” in South Carolina, the National Hurricane Center said in an update.
The center of the storm was around 15 miles north-northwest of Charleston at 11 p.m., the agency said. It had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph.
Some storm surge warnings were discontinued, but a storm surge warning remained for a stretch of the South Carolina coast from the Savannah River to the South Santee River, which includes Charleston.
Dry Tortugas plans to reopen; staff assessing damage
Dry Tortugas National Park will reopen tomorrow, the National Park Service said today, and staff members in the coming days will evaluate any damage left by Hurricane Idalia.
The park is made up of islands to the west of Key West. It’s known for marine life and coral reefs, among other attractions. It closed ahead of the hurricane.
Floodwater covers streets in Charleston
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Peak tides swelled over the Battery wall in downtown Charleston on Wednesday night, inundating nearby roads after Idalia brought what the National Weather Service said could be the fifth-highest peak tide on record.
Water on the streets around the Battery was ankle or shin deep in areas, submerging parts of the White Point Garden park.
Floodwater rolled down a street like a river as downed branches, leaves and debris lined nearby sidewalks.
Near the boarded-up Charleston City Market, traffic lights illuminated a flooded road, which was empty except for one police car with flashing lights parked on a dry side street.
Charleston tide thought to be 5th-highest on record
Tonight’s tide in Charleston ranks fifth highest on record, the National Weather Service there said.
It peaked at 3.47 feet “mean higher high water,” which is a value that measures the higher of two tides, or 9.23 feet using the mean lower, the weather service said on social media.
“Preliminarily, this event will rank as the 5th highest peak tide on record (back to 1921),” it said.
A car crash that killed a person in Pasco County, Florida, is being considered a "traffic fatality," authorities said.
"The weather was not that bad when the gentleman was driving," said Andy Fossa, Pasco County's emergency management director.
The road was "extremely curvy" and "slick," which led the driver to lose control of the vehicle and strike a tree.
The Florida Highway Patrol had initially said the incident was weather-related.
The revision brings the known Idalia death toll in Florida back to one. A 59-year-old Gainesville man died after his truck veered into a ditch in "extremely rainy" conditions in Alachua County, the highway patrol said.