Idalia, now a tropical storm, touched down in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane.
Idalia touched down in Florida's Big Bend region on Wednesday morning as a powerful Category 3 hurricane -- the strongest hurricane to ever make landfall in the Apalachee Bay.
Idalia has since weakened into a tropical storm and moved inland over Georgia and the Carolinas.
American Airlines said it's suspended operations in Tampa, Sarasota, Tallahassee, Gainesville and Savannah as Hurricane Idalia tears through.
Tampa International Airport, which closed ahead of the storm, will reopen at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
-ABC News' Clara McMichael
The core of Idalia is now in Georgia.
A flash flood emergency has been issued for Valdosta, Georgia, where more than 6 inches of rain fell this morning.
The latest path takes Idalia through Georgia and into the Carolinas through Wednesday evening.
The heaviest rain over the next 12 to 24 hours will be in the Carolinas, where some areas could see close to 10 inches of rain.
Five feet of storm surge is expected in Savannah and Charleston.
By 7 a.m. Thursday, the heavy rain will be hitting North Carolina's Outer Banks, and by late Thursday morning Idalia will move off the coast.
Cedar Key, Florida, resident Michael Bobbit rode out the storm at home, and he told ABC News Live his house "dodged a bullet" and avoided flooding.
"I put my heart and soul into this house, and it seemed like it was about to float off into the Gulf of Mexico," he said. "I'm a native Floridian, so hurricanes inherently aren't a big deal to me, but this one … I was scared."
While Bobbit's home was spared, Cedar Key's "entire downtown commercial district is underwater," he said. "We have no commercial buildings that aren't entirely inundated."
"I'd say 50% of the houses on the island have water in them," said Bobbit, who was walking in waist-deep water during the interview. "We're completely cut off from the mainland -- our bridges are inundated."
Bobbit said he and some other residents who stayed behind in Cedar Key are now "making sure everybody has what they need -- and we think we're in good."
"We're already cleaning up the streets," he said. "We live in community with one another -- we really take that seriously here and I'm really proud of our little town."
ABC News Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee, who's in Treasure Island, Florida, near St. Petersburg, as Hurricane Idalia hits, said on "GMA3" that she's concerned about more flooding during high tide, which is around noon ET.
"Through the afternoon and early evening, if you can, avoid travel around the areas that are already flooded," Zee said.
She also stressed the dangers of storm surge, which she said can "twist buildings off of their foundations and roll them down the street."
"I've seen it with my own eyes several times," she said.
Zee predicted Charleston and Savannah are "the next places we're going to see big water piling up like this."
"My concern really through the afternoon goes into South Carolina and coastal Georgia, and eventually tomorrow into North Carolina," she said.
