Florida's storm-tossed Gulf Coast takes stock as Idalia soaks Carolinas

View of a damaged property after the arrival of Hurricane Idalia in Horseshoe Beach, Florida, U.S., August 31, 2023. REUTERS/Julio Cesar Chavez

HORSESHOE BEACH, Florida (Reuters) -Tropical Storm Idalia drenched the Carolinas on Thursday with torrential rain that threatened to trigger flash flooding, while officials in Florida, where the tempest made landfall as a major hurricane, stepped up recovery and damage-appraisal efforts.

A day after plowing ashore at Keaton Beach in Florida's Big Bend region, packing Category 3 winds of nearly 125 miles per hour (201 kph), Idalia weakened from a tropical storm to a post-tropical cyclone and drifted away from shore into the Atlantic.