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The worst of Hurricane Idalia appears to be over as storm surge warnings and watches for Florida were lifted Wednesday evening there, the National Hurricane Center said.
Idalia was also downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved over southeastern Georgia, the hurricane center said.
The storm surge watch had been discontinued along the Georgia coast, the center added in its advisory issued at 5 p.m. local time (2100 UTC).
The storm, however, continues to pose risks of localized flooding and strong winds in some parts of Georgia and the Carolinas into Thursday.
US President Joe Biden urged caution, saying Idalia was “still very dangerous” even though it has weakened in intensity.
Idalia roared into Florida’s Big Bend region as a powerful hurricane Wednesday morning, bringing powerful winds and rains and knocking out power for thousands of people.
Storm moves toward southern Georgia
In Florida, authorities had feared a powerful storm surge may have inundated communities in the Big Bend region.
Idalia barreled into Florida’s Gulf Coast with fierce winds, torrential rains and pounding surf before weakening and turning its fury on southeastern Georgia, where floodwaters trapped some people in their homes.
Category 3 hurricane
Hours after Idalia arrived as a powerful Category 3 hurricane at Keaton Beach, Florida, packing winds of about 125 miles per hour (201 kilometers per hour), authorities were still trying to assess the full extent of damage in the worst-hit areas.
At a late afternoon press conference, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis — who is in the running to be the Republican nominee for president in 2024 — said there were no immediate reports of hurricane-related fatalities.
DeSantis also said that it seemed most residents in vulnerable, low-lying areas had heeded evacuation orders and warnings to move to higher ground while President Biden confirmed he was regularly in touch with all affected state governors.
rm, jsi/kb (AP, Reuters)
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