Biden signs disaster declaration as tropical storm Idalia hits North Carolina after pounding other states

US President Joe Biden has called Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to say that he has signed a major disaster declaration and ordered all federal resources to help with the response to tropical storm Idalia, the White House has said.

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 on 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 201 k/ph (125 mile-per-hour) winds in rural Florida.

Florida braces as Tropical Storm Idalia could strengthen into hurricane

The weakening storm still packed winds of up to 96 k/ph as it reached coastal North Carolina on Thursday morning.

Tropical storm-force winds were extending outward up to 295km (183 miles). Idalia was expected to travel just off the North Carolina coast on Thursday without losing much of its strength and gradually weaken as it rolls off into the ocean through the weekend.

Swells were expected to affect the southeastern coast, likely causing life-threatening surf and rip current conditions into the Labour Day 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 area, sending ankle-deep ocean water into the streets and neighbourhoods where horse-drawn carriages pass million-dollar homes and a famous open-air market.

At one stage, data showed that high tide had reached just over 2.8 metres (9 feet), more than 0.9 metres above normal and the fifth-highest reading in Charleston Harbour 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.

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After traveling 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.

In Tallahassee, the power went out well before the centre of the storm arrived, but the city avoided a direct hit.

State officials, 5,500 National Guardsman and rescue crews went into search-and-recovery mode, inspecting bridges, clearing toppled trees and looking for anyone in distress. More than 30,000 utility workers gathered to repair downed power lines and poles.

On Wednesday, Biden called the governors of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina and told them their states had his administration’s full support, according to the White House.