Drenched but alive, Floridians survey hurricane damage

Crystal River, United States, Aug 31 (AFP/APP): Residents in the US state of Florida on Thursday cleaned up after rain and flooding caused by Hurricane Idalia wreaked havoc before the storm weakened and headed out to sea.

Idalia roared into the Sunshine State as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday morning, flooding homes, felling trees and downing power lines before barreling across neighboring Georgia as well as South and North Carolina.

Keith Randall was clearing dozens of water-damaged items out of his home decor store in the Town of Crystal River on Thursday.
“It hit us pretty good inside,” the 52-year-old, who lives some 100 miles south of the site of the hurricane’s landfall, told AFP.

“Anything on the floors got ruined. We are getting rid of all the cardboard that was in here. Lots of stuff was on the walls, but it’s all good, it’s just a lot of cleanup,” he said.