Tropical Storm Idalia heads out to sea as Florida and Georgia begin arduous cleanup process

PERRY, Fla. (AP) — Tropical Storm Idalia headed out to sea Thursday after thrashing parts of Florida and Georgia with punishing rains and destructive winds, leaving residents to begin the arduous process of clearing fallen trees, restoring power and picking through the debris of devastated homes.

Thus far, authorities have only confirmed only one death, that of a man hit by a falling tree in Georgia. But the storm’s ferocious winds shredded homes in Florida's Big Bend area, where Idalia roared ashore as a major hurricane. As many as a half-million customers were without power at one point in Florida and Georgia as the storm ripped down power poles.

After pounding Florida, Idalia swung east, flooding many of South Carolina’s beaches and leaving some in the state and North Carolina without power before heading back into the Atlantic Ocean. 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.

Rescue and repair efforts were in full force in Florida’s remote Big Bend area, where Idalia roared ashore Wednesday as a major hurricane. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he planned to tour the area with federal emergency officials on Thursday. He noted that because the storm came ashore in the remote region where Florida's Panhandle curves into the peninsula, Idalia was far less destructive than feared, providing only glancing blows to Tampa Bay and other more populated areas. In contrast, Hurricane Ian last year hit the heavily populated Fort Myers area, leaving 149 dead in the state.

"I think this one, there was definitely a lot of destruction but it was so much debris and so much woods and that’s just going to require a lot to clean all that up,” DeSantis said.

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.

The storm was still a menace when it reached Valdosta, Georgia, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) inland. Nearly all of the 600 tarps that officials had set aside to cover damaged roofs had been claimed by Thursday morning, said Meghan Barwick, spokeswoman for surrounding Lowndes County.

More than 24,000 homes and businesses in the county of about 120,000 people remained without electricity, according to Barwick, who said residents should be prepared for several days more without lights or air conditioning.

Still, the storm's impact on the state could have been much worse, Georgia Gov. Kemp said.

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

He noted that Valdosta, a city of 55,000 people, suffered a direct hit while Idalia remained a strong hurricane with 90 mph (145 kph) winds.

“I’ve had multiple people text me in Valdosta and say that city will not be the same once the cleanup is done,” Kemp said.

A man in Valdosta died when a tree fell on him as he tried to clear another tree out of the road, Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk said.

In South Carolina, the storm coupled with already really high tides to send seawater flowing over sand dunes in nearly every beach town, although in most places the water was only about ankle deep. 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.

The worst damage was in Florida, where Idalia came ashore Wednesday morning near Keaton Beach.

Residents of the Big Bend region saw streets turned into rivers that submerged cars and homes, while howling winds tore off roofs, snapped tall trees, sent sheet metal flying and shredded homes.

At Horseshoe Beach in central Big Bend, Jewell Baggett picked through the wreckage and debris of her mother’s destroyed home, finding a few pictures and her mother’s pots and pans.

Her grandfather built the home decades ago and it had survived four previous storms, she said.

“And now it’s gone,” she said. “Nothing left. A few little trinkets here and there.”

Baggett, whose mother had left before the storm hit, said at least five or six other homes also were destroyed.