Tropical Storm Idalia descended on the Carolinas on its way out to the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, leaving a trail of flooding and destruction throughout the Southeast that stretched back to its landfall as a hurricane in Florida.
APTOPIX Tropical Weather A pickup truck with an American flag tied to sits halfway into a canal in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., after the passage of Hurricane Idalia, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather Jewell Baggett walks amidst debris strewn across the yard where her mother’s home had stood, as she searches for anything salvageable from the trailer home her grandfather had acquired in 1973 and built multiple additions on to over the decades, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., after the passage of Hurricane Idalia, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather The remains of damaged homes are seen in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., after the passage of Hurricane Idalia, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather A displaced building sits alongside flooding littered with debris from other buildings, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., after the passage of Hurricane Idalia, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather A roof lies amidst trees on the outskirts of Horseshoe Beach, Fla., after the passage of Hurricane Idalia, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather Florida An inn bears damage from Hurricane Idalia, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, in Cedar Key, Fla. Idalia made landfall early Wednesday morning along Florida's panhandle. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara
Tropical Weather Florida Lorena Torres, left, and Jorge Larancuent clean up debris from Hurricane Idalia Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, in Cedar Key, Fla. Idalia made landfall early Wednesday morning along Florida's panhandle. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara
Tropical Weather Florida Lorena Torres cleans up debris from Hurricane Idalia at the Faraway Inn, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, in Cedar Key, Fla. Idalia made landfall early Wednesday morning along Florida's panhandle. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara
Tropical Weather Florida Lorena Torres, left, and Jorge Larancuent clean up debris from Hurricane Idalia at the Faraway Inn Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, in Cedar Key, Fla. Idalia made landfall early Wednesday morning along Florida's panhandle. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara
Tropical Weather The remains of a destroyed building are seen in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., after the passage of Hurricane Idalia, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather Florida Jorge Larancuent cleans up debris from Hurricane Idalia at the Faraway Inn Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, in Cedar Key, Fla. Idalia made landfall early Wednesday morning along Florida's panhandle. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara
Tropical Weather Florida The sign to the Faraway Inn is damaged as Jorge Laranacuent cleans up debris from Hurricane Idalia Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, in Cedar Key, Fla. Idalia made landfall early Wednesday morning along Florida's panhandle. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara
Tropical Weather Debris from destroyed buildings lies next to a home still standing in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., after the passage of Hurricane Idalia, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather Florida Workers begin replacing the Hurricane Idalia damaged roof at Steamers restaurant Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, in Cedar Key, Fla. Idalia made landfall early Wednesday morning along Florida's panhandle. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara
Tropical Weather A child plays in the surf as the first bands of tropical storm Idalia began effecting Surfside Beach in Myrtle Beach, S.C. on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023 after the passage of Hurricane Idalia. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP)
Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP
Tropical Weather Florida Workers replace boards on a restaurant in Cedar Key, Fla., Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023., after they were damaged by Hurricane Idalia. Idalia made landfall early Wednesday morning along Florida's panhandle. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara
Tropical Weather North Myrtle Beach, S.C., police are patrolling beaches on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023 after Tropical Storm Idalia. Hurricane Idalia was downgraded to a tropical storm after hitting the gulf coast of Florida on Wednesday but brought heavy rains, coastal flooding and tornados to the South Carolina coastline. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP)
Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP
Tropical Weather Florida Workers replace boards on a restaurant as they begin to rebuild Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, in Cedar Key, Fla., after they were damaged by Hurricane Idalia. Idalia made landfall early Wednesday morning along Florida's panhandle. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara
Tropical Weather Florida Andy Bair, owner of the Island Hotel and Restaurant closes up a storage area on his hotel that shows how high the water rose from the effects of Hurricane Idalia Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, in Cedar Key, Fla. Idalia made landfall early Wednesday morning along Florida's panhandle. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara
Tropical Weather A baby looks out the window of a truck picking its way through Horseshoe Beach, Fla., surveying storm damage, after the passage of Hurricane Idalia, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather A storm tattered American flag lies wrapped around its downed pole in the front yard of Herman Neely, a retired corrections officer known by the nickname "Pork Chop," after storm surge from Hurricane Idalia shifted Neely's home from its blocks and punched holes through the inside walls, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, one day after the storm's passage. Neely, 78, said he initially decided to ride out the storm in his house, but when water reached his truck bumper around first light, he drove out of town, picking his way through flooding and past floating debris. Now, he says, the three bedroom home built for his parents and their eight children in 1962, will have to be demolished and he'll only be able to afford to live in a camper on the property, due to rules requiring new homes to be built on stilts. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather Buddy Ellison, left, and his father Dan look through debris scattered across their property in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, one day after the passage of Hurricane Idalia. Ellison said five generations of his family has lived in this spot and that while their stilted home remains standing, rebuilding a damaged cottage and their collapsed business, Ed's Baithouse and Marina, on stilts as required would be cost prohibitive. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
APTOPIX Tropical Weather A sign advertising a vacation rental is attached to a piece of wood amid the scattered debris of destroyed homes and businessees in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, one day after the passage of Hurricane Idalia. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather In this photo taken with a drone, debris from homes swept off their lots litters a canal amid homes on stilts which survived, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, one day after the passage of Hurricane Idalia. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather In this photo taken with a drone, debris from destroyed homes and buildings is seen scattered amid remaining homes, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, one day after the passage of Hurricane Idalia. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather A cottage belonging to the Ellison family teeters over a canal, alongside the remnants of the family's destroyed business, Ed's Baithouse and Marina, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, one day after the passage of Hurricane Idalia. Buddy Ellison said five generations of his family have lived on this property, and while their stilted home remains, rebuilding the business and cottage on stilts as required would be cost prohibitive. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
APTOPIX Tropical Weather Debris from destroyed homes and structures floats in a canal in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, one day after the passage of Hurricane Idalia. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather Appliances and belongings lie displaced in the kitchen of Herman Neely, a retired corrections officer known by the nickname "Pork Chop," after storm surge from Hurricane Idalia shifted Neely's home from its blocks and punched holes through the inside walls, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, one day after the storm's passage. Neely, 78, said he initially decided to ride out the storm in his house, but when water reached his truck bumper around first light, he drove out of town, picking his way through flooding and past floating debris. Now, he says, the three bedroom home built for his parents and their eight children in 1962, will have to be demolished and he'll only be able to afford to live in a camper on the property, due to rules requiring new homes to be built on stilts. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather Jessica Long tries to free her niece's bicycle from under a piece of her family's destroyed vacation home, a two-bedroom trailer on blocks which was broken and scattered by storm surge, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, one day after the passage of Hurricane Idalia. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather Florida DeSantis Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, consoles a weeping homeowner as he visits her house, which was heavily damaged by storm surge during the passage of Hurricane Idalia, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
APTOPIX Tropical Weather Jewell Baggett stands beside a Christmas decoration she recovered from the wreckage of her mother’s home, as she searches for anything salvageable from the trailer home her grandfather had acquired in 1973 and built multiple additions on to over the decades, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., after the passage of Hurricane Idalia, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
APTOPIX Tropical Weather In this photo made in a flight provided by mediccorps.org, the remains of a destroyed home built atop a platform on piles are seen in Keaton Beach, Fla., following the passage of Hurricane Idalia, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
APTOPIX Tropical Weather Jewell Baggett finds a lit green light amidst the debris strewn across the yard where her mother’s home had stood, as she searches for anything salvageable from the trailer home her grandfather had acquired in 1973 and built multiple additions on to over the decades, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., after the passage of Hurricane Idalia, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather A man wades up Sea Mountain Highway in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023 after the passage of Hurricane Idalia. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP)
Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP
APTOPIX Tropical Weather Pick up trucks and debris lie strewn in a canal in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., after the passage of Hurricane Idalia, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather A set of concrete steps carried by storm waters from another building sits amidst the wreckage of a home originally owned by the late grandparents of Jewell Baggett, who was searching through the debris to recover any salvageable possessions for her mother, who was left homeless by the storm, in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., after the passage of Hurricane Idalia, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather A car plunged into flood waters on Ocean Boulevard in North Myrtle Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023 after the passage of Hurricane Idalia. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP)
Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP
Tropical Weather Debris from destroyed buildings chokes a canal in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., after the passage of Hurricane Idalia, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather This combination of satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies shows a portion of the Big Bend area, in Fla., on Jan. 12, 2023, and the same area, right, Aug. 30, 2023, after Tropical Storm Idalia caused flooding to the area.
Tropical Weather City of Tallahassee lineman Chris Nowell surveys a scene where a tree fell across the road onto a parked car in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia in Tallahassee, Fla., Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Phil Sears)
AP Photo/Phil Sears
APTOPIX Tropical Weather In this photo made in a flight provided by mediccorps.org, an evacuated flooded RV park is seen near Keaton Beach, Fla., following the passage of Hurricane Idalia, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Tropical Weather A dock is upended in a North Myrtle Beach, S.C., canal after Tropical Storm Idalia caused flooding throughout the area on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. Idalia was downgraded to a tropical storm after hitting the gulf coast of Florida on Wednesday but brought heavy rains, coastal flooding and tornados to the South Carolina coastline. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP)
Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP
Tropical Weather Portions of a roof lay scattered in the canals of Hog Inlet in North Myrtle Beach S.C. after a tornado damaged roofs near 56th Avenue North in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. Hurricane Idalia was downgraded to a tropical storm after hitting the gulf coast of Florida on Wednesday but brought heavy rains, coastal flooding and tornados to the South Carolina coastline. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP)
Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP
Tropical Weather A beach walker pulls debris from the shoreline after Tropical Storm Idalia on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023 in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. Hurricane Idalia was downgraded to a tropical storm after hitting the gulf coast of Florida on Wednesday but brought heavy rains, coastal flooding and tornados to the South Carolina coastline. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP)
HORSESHOE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Florida and Georgia residents living along Hurricane Idalia’s path of destruction on Thursday 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.
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,” 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,” 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.”
Residents of the tiny town, most of whom evacuated inland during the storm, helped each other clear debris or collect belongings — high school trophies, photos, records, china. They frequently stopped to hug amid tears. Six-foot-high watermarks stained walls still standing, marking the extent of the storm surge.
Florida officials said there was one hurricane-related death in the Gainesville area, but didn’t release any details. The state’s highway patrol reported earlier that two people were 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,” 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,” 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,” 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,” 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.
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Associated Press writers Daniel Kozin in Horseshoe Beach; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Lisa J. Adams Wagner in Evans, Georgia; and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.
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