PERRY, Florida (AP) — 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.

Rescue and repair efforts continued in the areas the storm passed Wednesday and there was no immediate word on the toll from the ferocious winds and inundating waters, but authorities counted at least one death.

The storm left as many as a half-million customers without power in Florida and other states at one point as it ripped down power poles and lines. Still, it was far less destructive than feared, providing only glancing blows to Tampa Bay and other more populated areas as it came ashore with 125 mph (201 kph) winds in rural Florida.

The weakening storm still packed winds of up to 60 mph (96 kph) as it blasted through Georgia and South Carolina on Wednesday evening. It was expected to reach the North Carolina coast Thursday and roll off into the ocean through the weekend.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, who declared a statewide emergency earlier this week as Idalia approached, had warned residents in coastal and eastern inland counties to prepare for heavy rainfall and localised flooding and urged them to stay off roads covered by water.

In South Carolina, the storm coupled with king tides to send seawater flowing over sand dunes and spilling onto beachfront streets. In Charleston, a surge from Idalia topped the seawall that protects the downtown, sending ankle-deep ocean water into the streets and neighbourhoods 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 metres), more than 3 feet (0.9 metres) 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.

After travelling across the Gulf of Mexico, Idalia came ashore Wednesday morning near Keaton Beach, pummelling Florida’s remote and lightly populated Big Bend region with powerful winds.

The area, where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula, saw streets turned into rivers that submerged cars and homes, while the howling winds tore off roofs, snapped tall trees, sent sheet metal flying and shredded homes.

“All hell broke loose,” said Belond Thomas of Perry, a mill town located just inland from the Big Bend region. Thomas fled with her family and some friends to a motel, thinking it would be safer than riding out the storm at home but the roof was torn away and debris showered onto her pregnant daughter, who fortunately wasn’t injured, Thomas 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.

Even so, Idalia appeared to be far less destructive than first feared. It avoided large urban regions, striking only glancing blows to Tampa Bay and other more populated areas while focusing its fury on the rural Big Bend section.

However, damage there was likely to be extensive.