Hurricane Idalia unleashes devastation in Florida, makes its way to Georgia, Carolinas

WASHINGTON (TND) — After spending a few hours as a Category 4 Wednesday morning, Hurricane Idalia gradually downgraded to a Category 1 as it moved across Florida's western shore and headed toward Georgia and the Carolinas.

The storm made landfall as a Category 3 around 7:45 a.m. near Keaton Beach.

The extremely dangerous storm hit the Big Bend coast with a life-threatening storm surge of up to 16 feet, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Idalia is expected to hit major locations on the East Coast including Savannah, Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia, Charleston, South Carolina and Wilmington, North Carolina.

Heavy rain and gusty winds will continue into Thursday morning.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said Wednesday Idalia is bringing down power lines and resulting in scattered reports of buildings damaged by falling trees.

Storm surge will likely be limited by the storm’s speed, but there could be minor to moderate flooding around Savannah at high tide Wednesday evening, said Georgia Emergency Management Agency meteorologist Will Lanxton.

Idalia remains a Category 1 hurricane as it tears across south Georgia.

The storm's center is northeast of Valdosta, Georgia, and on a path toward the populous Savannah area.

As flood-prone Charleston, South Carolina prepares for Hurricane Idalia, officials are concerned about the King Tide Wednesday night.

"The primary threat to the Charleston area remains heavy rainfall and major coastal flooding associated with King Tides,” the city said in a statement.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said the storm is weakening but still urged the public to continue preparing for the storm.

"Don't panic but be prepared," he said.

McMaster did not issue evacuations or closing of state agencies.

President Joe Biden is expected to deliver remarks Wednesday afternoon about the federal response to Idalia.

Up to 260,000 customers in Florida were without power Wednesday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.

The dangerous storm surge is also setting records for high water levels.

New records in Florida include:

• Cedar Key: Storm surge has reached 8.9 feet.
• East Bay Tampa: Storm surge has reached 5.7 feet.
• Clearwater Beach: Storm surge has reached 5.2 feet.

Residents in more than a dozen Florida counties were mandated to evacuate their homes.

We're going to get hit with a major hurricane," DeSantis said during a news conference Tuesday evening. "Be ready for impact. Everybody hang in there. It will have significant impacts. It's likely to cause a lot of damage, so be prepared for that.

DeSantis said there are 1.1. million gallons of fuel in reserve, with UBER offering free rides.

He added officials will begin search and rescue missions as soon as it is safe to do so.

The following resources are ready to go:

• Eight urban search and rescue teams
• 33 ambulance strike teams
• 5,500 national guardsmen

The Coast Guard is also on standby if they are needed.

At least two airports -- including Tampa International Airport (TPA) and St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport -- were closed Tuesday afternoon.

TPA announced they were reopening at 4 p.m. Wednesday for arriving flights only. Departing flights and normal operations will resume early Thursday morning.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Deanne Criswell said urban search and rescue teams from FEMA are on standby, while the Army Corps of Engineers are expected to support power generation missions. She also said there's $3.4 billion left in FEMA's emergency fund.

We are prioritizing funding for Idalia, for the Maui fires, and any other extreme weather events that are coming our way without interruption,” Criswell said. “And I want to stress that while immediate needs funding will ensure we can continue to respond to disasters, it is not a permanent solution. Congress must work with us on the supplemental request that the administration has made on behalf of FEMA.

She added that resources have been positioned in Florida, Georgia, as well as the Carolinas.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Associated Press contributed to this report.