Two deaths in Florida blamed on rain-slick roads as Hurricane Idalia passed through

Hurricane Idalia lashed southern Georgia after making landfall along a sparsely populated stretch of Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday morning, toppling trees and flooding fishing villages while on a course to menace other parts of the Southeast. At least two storm-related deaths were reported on Florida’s slick roads.

Briefly a Category 4 storm overnight, Idalia had weakened to Category 1 strength by Wednesday afternoon. But with sustained winds of 80 mph, it still presented a grave threat, and the National Hurricane Center and local officials warned of “catastrophic” storm surge as the waters continued to rise.

“That’s our major concern,” said Lt. Scott Tummond with the sheriff’s office in Levy County, part of Florida’s Big Bend coast. “We’re looking at inland flooding for miles.”

The storm came ashore at 7:45 a.m. in Taylor County, about 90 miles southeast of the state capital of Tallahassee.

Here’s what to know:

— After making landfall, the storm was expected to move toward the coasts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina on Wednesday into Thursday, possibly remaining at hurricane strength, forecasters said. Officials in those states issued emergency declarations warning of heavy rain and flooding.

— A storm surge warning was in effect early Wednesday along a 400-mile stretch of Florida coastline from Englewood to Indian Pass, including Tampa Bay. Some areas could be submerged by 12 to 16 feet of flooding and hit with destructive waves, according to the National Hurricane Center.

— Two deaths from car crashes early Wednesday were attributed to the weather conditions: one in Gainesville and one in Pasco County, north of Tampa.

— More than 260,000 customers in Florida were without power Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages across the United States. On Tuesday, DeSantis said that 25,000 utility workers were on standby, with 30,000 more headed to the state.

— More than 900 flights at airports in Florida and Georgia were delayed or canceled Wednesday, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking service.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.