As Tropical Storm Idalia continues to move offshore, it’s still having a devastating effect in the southeast with life-threatening flooding and widespread power outages.
As of 3 a.m. ET, power outages have exceeded more than 300,000 customers.
Here’s a breakdown of power outages per state:
- Florida: More than 143,000 customers
- Georgia: More than 112,000 customers
- South Carolina: More than 31,000 customers
- North Carolina: More than 20,000 customers
Tropical Storm warnings remain mainly across southeastern North Carolina. A flood watch remains in effect for parts of North Carolina and will begin to expire through the day Thursday.
“Life-threatening flash flooding” possible and storm surge warnings are in effect for parts of North Carolina
Idalia, which is still a tropical storm, is moving offshore from the coast of northeastern South Carolina, and it’s continuing to dump heavy rainfall on North Carolina as it turns into the Atlantic Ocean.
“Heavy rainfall and life-threatening flash flooding continues in portions of eastern North Carolina,” the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 a.m. ET advisory
A storm surge watch is in effect for Beaufort Inlet to Ocracoke Inlet North Carolina as well as the Neuse and Pamlico Rivers North Carolina, the hurricane center reported.
A storm surge watch means there is a possibility of life-threatening inundation.
Here’s a look at the heights water could reach above ground across North Carolina:
- Beaufort Inlet to Ocracoke Inlet: 2 to 4 feet
- Neuse and Bay Rivers: 2 to 4 feet
- Pamlico and Pungo Rivers: 2 to 4 feet
- Ocracoke Inlet to Duck: 1 to 3 feet
- Cape Fear to Beaufort Inlet: 1 to 3 feet
Idalia remains tropical storm as it brings heavy rainfall to North Carolina
Idalia remains a tropical storm with winds of 60 mph and with higher gusts, and little change in strength is predicted today, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 5 a.m. EDT update.
The center of the storm has moved offshore of the coast of northeastern South Carolina and is now about 45 miles south-southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina, moving to the northeast at 22 mph. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 185 miles from the center.
Tropical Storm Idalia is forecast to move farther into the Atlantic and could near Bermuda later this weekend, though there is still significant uncertainty in the details of the track forecast in the coming days.
Here’s a look at the latest update from the National Hurricane Center:
Many areas hit by Idalia aren’t equipped to handle such a “life-changing” storm, congressman says
From CNN’s Aya Elamroussi
Some communities across Florida’s west coast battered by Idalia’s deluge and ferocious winds endured a “life-changing event,” an official said, after the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the Big Bend region in at least 125 years delivered record water levels and damaged thousands of homes.
Idalia, after making landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday morning, also battered parts of southeast Georgia and the Carolinas, flooding coastal areas and causing hundreds of thousands of power outages. A tropical storm as of 2 a.m. ET Thursday, Idalia was causing dangerous flash flooding in parts of North Carolina and threatened more of the same through the morning, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm wreaked havoc as it smashed into Florida’s Big Bend area — the region between the panhandle and peninsula — near Keaton Beach on Wednesday morning, ripping roofs off buildings and flooding homes as it pushed feet of seawater onshore along a wide swath of the state’s west coast.
Many of the areas that bore the brunt of the storm aren’t equipped to handle such a powerful hurricane, US Rep. Jared Moskowitz said Wednesday night.
“In those areas, a lot of them are fiscally constrained. They don’t necessarily have the resources,” Moskowitz, who represents a South Florida district and used to lead the state’s Division of Emergency Management, told CNN.
“There are some communities that may never look the same and others that will get rebuilt that will look slightly different,” Moskowitz said. “This is a life-changing event for some of these counties.”
Read the full story here.
