President Joe Biden plans to travel to Florida on Saturday to survey the damage from Hurricane Idalia, he told reporters during a visit at FEMA headquarters.

The visit was billed as one to thank FEMA staff for their work during the hurricane and the Maui wildfires.

Biden noted that he once again spoke with Florida governor and 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis on Thursday.

"Governor DeSantis and I spoke again this morning and let him know that I accrued his major disaster declaration," Biden said.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Steinhatchee in Florida's Big Bend region on Thursday to survey the damage caused by Idalia.

"I'm seeing a lot of damage, and I'm also seeing a lot of resiliency," DeSantis said.

The governor said 135,000 customers are still without power in the state and noted that there have been 430,000 restorations since the storm hit on Wednesday.

DeSantis said most schools that closed due to the hurricane will be open by Friday.

-ABC News' Will McDuffie and Hannah Demissie

Tropical Storm Idalia is moving off the North Carolina coast and heading out to sea.

Rain and gusty winds will continue to hit North Carolina's Outer Banks through the afternoon before trailing off Thursday evening.

Parts of eastern North Carolina recorded more than 6 inches of rain, causing flash flooding Thursday morning.

Charleston, which is vulnerable to flooding, recorded a storm surge of 3.47 feet -- its fifth highest on record.

But Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said the city "really dodged the bullet" of Hurricane Idalia.

"The wind and the rain impact were pretty minimal," he said Thursday.

Twenty-two water rescues were reported, which mostly were for people trapped in flooded cars, the mayor said.

-ABC News' Jason Volack

Idalia strengthened from a tropical storm into a hurricane early Tuesday as maximum sustained winds reached 75 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.

Idalia is "expected to rapidly intensify into an extremely dangerous major hurricane" before making landfall in Florida on Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service said in its latest advisory. Winds are forecast to reach 120 mph by Tuesday night.

As of 5 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the eye of the storm was located about 85 miles north of the western tip of Cuba and about 370 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida. The storm was moving north at 14 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

A hurricane warning, which means hurricane conditions are expected within the warning area, remains in effect for the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio as well as parts of Florida, starting from the middle of Longboat Key northward to Indian Pass, including Tampa Bay. Other weather alerts were still in effect for more areas of Cuba and Florida, as well as Georgia and South Carolina.

-ABC News’ Max Golembo