Hermine 'to strengthen back into a HURRICANE in time for Labor Day': Storm will stall off the coast of New York and New Jersey until WEDNESDAY as beaches close and flights threatened with 30m in its path 

As Hermine pushed through South Carolina with strong winds and heavy rains on Friday, it could strengthen back into a hurricane as it moves into the Atlantic coast over the Labor Day weekend, forecasters said.

Hermine, which was earlier downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, could be near hurricane intensity by late Sunday, meteorologist and National Hurricane spokesman Dennis Feltgen told Daily Mail Online. 

As the storm makes its way towards the East Coast it is likely to strengthen once it moves offshore on Saturday, posing as a dangerous threat to the Jersey Shore, with possible high winds and storm surge.

From Florida to New York, more than 30 million people were under tropical storm watches and warnings as the storm moved northeast, bringing the potential for drenching rain and devastating flooding.

Hermine - which tore a path of destruction across Florida after making landfall on Friday - is forecast to move across coastal South Carolina this evening and then continue across coastal North Carolina on Saturday morning.

As it pushes northeast, it will move offshore of the North Carolina coast by Saturday afternoon before stalling or meandering over the North Atlantic, nearly stationary off the New Jersey coast for several days. 

'The northeast will start feeling impacts into the weekend and into Labor day off coastal sections,' Feltgen told Daily Mail Online. 

Scroll down for video 

From Florida to New York, more than 30 million people were under tropical storm watches and warnings as Hermine weakened to a tropical storm while moving northeast. Forecasters said Hermine could reach hurricane intensity by Sunday

North Carolina sand bags: By Friday afternoon, it had weakened to a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph. The National Hurricane Center issued tropical storm watches and warnings as far north as the Connecticut-Rhode Island border

The North Carolina National Guard prepares to depart their Kinston, North Carolina yard on Friday to stage at the Global Transpark after being activated head of Tropical Storm Hermine

Large crowds rush to depart New York's Pennsylvania station before the start of the Labor Day holiday weekend on Friday in New York City. Despite weather forecasts for high wind and rain from Hurricane Hermine, thousands of people departed Manhattan for the official last weekend of the summer

Dave Christian, a dock worker at Marlin Quay Marina, walks through heavy rains caused by Tropical Storm Hermine after checking the docks in Garden City Beach, South Carolina on Friday

 Workers clean up debris, caused by Hurricane Hermine, in the parking lot in front of convenience store in Cedar Key, Florida 

Path: This NOAA satellite image taken Friday at 9.45am EDT shows Tropical Storm Hermine moving into South Carolina

'They'll be dealing with this into Monday, Tuesday and quite possibly into Wednesday,' he added.

He also said Hermine could become a post-tropical storm as it nears New Jersey, New York and Connecticut on Sunday, but he pointed out Sandy did the same in 2012 and still caused extensive damage.  

A post-tropical storm means while it might not be classified as a hurricane, it still has all the same impacts, including storm surge along coast, heavy rain and forceful winds.

Feltgen warned those along the coast need to be watching the storm very carefully they and to take it seriously.

There is expected to be little change in Hermine's strength between tonight and early Saturday, while the center of it remains over land, the National Hurricane Center (NHC). 

As of 5pm EDT, the center of Tropical Storm Hermine was centered inland over southern South Carolina. 

After Hurricane Hermine wreaked havoc across Florida on Friday, it surged Georgia before making its way into South Carolina.

The Category 1 storm made landfall in Florida early Friday, becoming the first hurricane to hit the Sunshine State in 11 years, and left one dead, 253,000 without power and forced dozens of towns in its path to evacuate.

Hurricane Hermine slammed into Florida, with the Sunshine State braced for 80mph winds, 12ft storm surges and up to 20 inches of rain overnight. Hermine has since been downgraded to a tropical storm, posing 'life-threatening' danger

After pushing through Georgia, Hermine was expected to move into the Carolinas and up the East Coast with the potential for drenching rain and deadly flooding over the Labor Day weekend (its projected path pictured above)

Currently, a tropical storm watch is in effect in coastal parts of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and the Virginia Tidewater

The storm is expected to hover near or off the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast seaboard, braced for strong winds and coastal flooding

Georgia was spared the havoc it had expected when it placed 56 counties under a state of emergency, but 85,000 homes and businesses lost power from downed trees and power lines on Friday.

Though sustained winds had weakened to 50mph, the tempest could strengthen again over water and possibly bring up to 15 inches of rain to the southeastern and mid-Atlantic states over the next 48 hours.

In South Carolina, an official said Hermine had spawned scattered reports of flooded roads, trees down and power outages but no major damage.

Emergency Management Division spokesman Derrec Becker likened it more to a bad summer storm than a hurricane, and Gov. Nikki Haley did not declare a state of emergency.

The worst damage appears to be on the southern tip of the state in Beaufort County where there were flooded roads, numerous reports of trees down and where a wind gust of 52 mph was recorded.

In the Charleston area, only a handful of roads were closed because of flooding, not uncommon during summer thunderstorms.

Boats are pictured in the middle of a street in Steinhatchee on Friday after the landfall of Hurricane Hermine in Florida

The Big Deck bar and grill in Cedar Key suffered major damage as Hurricane Hermine passed through the area. 'Bring it on Hermine' had been written on wood cladding attached to the bar

People are pictured wading through a flooded street in Steinhatchee on Friday after Hurricane Hermine hit Florida

Charlie Valentine sweeps water out of the Sea Hag Marina (left) in Steinhatchee as Kristin Skipper helps clean up inside (right)

A trailer was destroyed after rain and wind from Hurricane Hermine hit the town of Keaton Beach, Florida

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HURRICANE AND A TROPICAL STORM? 

In the Atlantic Ocean, a hurricane usual starts as a lowlytropical disturbance, meaning organized thunderstorm activity stretching at least 100 miles across and remaining as one for 24 hours.

They often start as storms moving westward from African during the summer, according to Vox.

If a tropical disturbance is expected to further develop, meteorologists will appoint it as an investigative area or invest.

For example, meteorologists were watching closely with Hermine starting out as 'Invest 99L.'

Under certain conditions, a tropical disturbance can continue developing and spin into a low-pressure center, at which point it is classified as a tropical cyclone or tropical depression.

In order for a tropical depression to form, wind and water temperature come into play.

To fuel the system, there has to be enough moisture in the lower and middle part of the atmosphere and the water also has to be at least 80F.

Local winds also have to allow the depression to spin, as too much wind shear can dissipate an aspiring tropical cyclone.

With a tropical storm, the pressure in the center of the system drops, and air rushes in, allowing for strong winds to be made.

Should the system strengthen and wind speed rises past 39pmh, it is classified as a tropical storm and is also given a name.

For example, this happened with Hermine on Wednesday as it made its way into the Gulf of Mexico and intensified.

The National Hurricane Center determines when a tropical depression becomes a tropical storm, relying on data from islands and buoys as well as measurements taken from aircrafts flying into the storm to measure wind speed.

Tropical storms be upgraded to a hurricane if they pass over a region of particularly warm water and do not encounter a lot of wind shear.

When this happens, the pressure in the center of the system drops further and the winds speed up, causing the system to get rounder, usually forming a clearly defined 'eye.'

Hurricanes can then be downgraded back to tropical storms as they move over land or cooler water, and are no longer fueled by warm moist air.

Hurricanes are downgraded to tropical storm once wind speeds drop below 75mph, which is exactly what happened with Hermine after it made landfall in Florida on Friday.

As the storm is forecast to move back over the Atlantic Ocean next week and reaches record-warm ocean temperatures, it could strengthen into a hurricane again.

Source: Vox 

Wind gusts up to 30mph were reported in the Richland County area, and some areas received four inches of rain — mainly south and east of Columbia.

Meanwhile in Virginia, Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency.

At a news conference Friday afternoon, McAuliffe warned that the storm could bring 'life-threatening' storm surges to the eastern part of the state, including heavily populated areas such as Virginia Beach.

McAuliffe said forecasters predict waves as high as eight feet and storm surges up to four feet this weekend. McAuliffe added that 10 inches of rain could also pour down over the course of two days.

Virginia is deploying 270 members of the National Guard to prepare for flooding and power outages. 

Cities such as Norfolk and Virginia Beach are often plagued with flooding in low-lying areas and are increasingly vulnerable to sea-level rise. 

Heavy rainfall and flooding could also possibly hit coastal Delaware and New Jersey starting on Saturday night, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday activated his state's emergency operations center and advised emergency officials to stockpile resources, including sandbags and generators. 

Meanwhile, New Jersey, still mindful of the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, was on high alert as emergency officials advised people to prepare for flooding, high winds and a surge of seawater. 

Heavy rain and winds were moving into South and North Carolina as the storm advanced, the NHC said. 

Hermine is forecast to hover near or off the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast seaboard, braced for strong winds and coastal flooding, according to The Weather Channel. 

Over the next five days, it is expected to remain 'a dangerous cyclone,' according to the hurricane center, according to USA Today.

'Gusts between 60 and 75mph are possible from the central New Jersey coast to the southern tip of Delmarva,' according to AccuWeather. 

A large oak tree fell across the carport area of a Whataburger restaurant and another tree next to a preschool fell in the opposite direction, hitting a car parked nearby

Escaped: Darby Lee looks into the damaged bedroom of his brother and sister in laws apartment that had a tree fall on the roof early Friday morning in Jacksonville, Florida 

Residents in Alligator Point, Florida look at a road that collapsed during the storm surge from Hurricane Hermine on Friday

Defense: Barbara Carroll surveys damage in and around her home from the storm surge caused by Hurricane Hermine which made landfall overnight in the area around Tampa 

Mother nature's roar: Melvin Gatlin Jr. walks to the back door of his father's house in Valdosta, Georgia 

A tropical storm watch is in effect in coastal parts of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and the Virginia Tidewater.

A tornado watch has also been issued by the Storm Prediction Center and will remain until 8am EDT for parts of northern and west central Florida, along with southern Georgia and southern South Carolina.

Nationwide, airline travel seemed to only be moderately disrupted on Friday with an estimated 172 flight cancellations and another estimated 1,711 flights delayed as of 4pm EDT, according, Flight Aware.  

Airports in Hermine's path saw minor to moderate delays or cancellations, and included airports in Florida from Jacksonville, Tampa and Gainesville to airports in Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina. 

Airlines including America, Delta, United and Southwest had issued flexible re-booking policies related to Hermine, according to USA Today.

JetBlue, Spirit and Silver Airlines also had offered storm-related waivers. 

Hurricane Hermine made landfall in Florida's Big Bend area early Friday as the first hurricane to hit the state in more than a decade, bringing soaking rain and high winds. 

People venture out onto the Jacksonville Beach Fishing Pier as roaring waves crash against the pilings

Cleanup: The Category 1 storm hit just east of St. Marks around 1:30 a.m. EDT with winds around 80 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center

Lucky escapes reported: An unknown number of people in Florida were taken to area hospitals with injuries that weren't thought to be life-threatening

Power of the storm: Hurricane Hermine made landfall in Florida's Big Bend area early Friday as the first hurricane to hit the state in more than a decade

It hit just east of St. Marks around 1.30am EDT with winds around 80mph, and churning up a devastating storm surge in coastal areas, according to the NHC.

Storm surges of up to 12 feet menaced a wide swath of the coast and an expected drenching of up to 10 inches of rain carried the danger of flooding along the storm's path over land, including the state capital Tallahassee, which had not been hit by a hurricane since Kate in 1985.

Schools in 35 of the Florida's 67 counties were closed, meanwhile state offices were closed in 37 counties. Florida Governor Rick Scott said 253,000 people were without power.

Scott, who declared a state of emergency in 51 counties, also said 6,000 National Guard members were ready to mobilize once the storm passed. 

Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said 100 Florida National Guard personnel were activated, with 34,000 ready to deploy from elsewhere in the United States.

President Barack Obama has asked FEMA administrator Craig Fugate to keep him updated on the situation 'and to alert him if there are any significant unmet needs', White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

'Local, state and federal officials have been working diligently to prepare for these storms and have resources on hand to respond to them as necessary,' he added. 

Uprooted: Emergency services responded to more than 300 calls overnight. Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum estimated as many as 100,000 area residents were without electricity Friday morning

Florida style response: Law enforcement officers in Tampa use an airboat to survey damage around homes from high winds and storm surge associated with Hurricane Hermine

Lynne Garrett speaks to loved ones on the phone as she surveys damage outside of her home from the winds and storm surge associated with Hurricane Hermine which made landfall overnight in the area on Friday in Tampa, Florida

Law enforcement officers use an airboat to survey damage around homes from high winds and storm surge associated with Hurricane Hermine

Strong gusts downed power lines and trees as widespread flooding inundated communities in Florida before the hurricane weakened into a tropical storm as it reached Georgia and South Carolina, where conditions deteriorated early on Friday morning 

Damage: Part of a sea wall that collapsed is seen after Hurricane Hermine passed through overnight on Friday

Authorities in Ocala, Florida said a homeless man was found dead in a wooded area early Friday after a tree fell on him as winds from Hermine whipped across the state. 

The man was apparently sleeping in a tent behind Diamond Oil near Ocala when the tree fell on him, The Ocala Star-Banner reported.

Capt. Chip Wildly, director of Marion County's emergency management agency, said the man's body was discovered around 7.35am by people who were reporting to work. No further details were immediately available.

Scott said no other deaths or major injuries have been reported.

While damage is still being assessed in the Sunshine State now that Hermine has moved out of Florida and into Georgia, Scott said about 70 per cent of the homes in Tallahassee were without power Friday morning. 

The number rises to 99 per cent in Wakulla County on the marshy Gulf of Mexico coastline south of Tallahassee where Hermine made landfall early Friday.

He also noted there's 'a lot of tree damage in Tallahassee, and a lot of road damage.' 

Hurricane Hermine - Florida's first for 11 years - made landfall shortly after 1.30am as it careered past St Marks, south east of Tallahassee

In Tallahassee, high winds knocked trees onto several houses injuring residents inside, according to fire-rescue spokesman Mike Bellamy.

He said an unknown number were taken to area hospitals with injuries that were mpt thought to be life-threatening.

Drivers also encountered fallen trees and limbs across roadways, with few traffic lights working, creating hazards for motorists who did not realize they had to stop at intersections.

A large oak tree fell across the carport area of a Whataburger restaurant and another tree next to a preschool fell in the opposite direction, hitting a car parked nearby.  

Bellamy said his agency responded to more than 300 calls overnight. 

Debris and boats are scattered across the road after Hurricane Hermine passed the area on Friday in Steinhatchee, Florida

Residents stand among debris as they check on damage after Hurricane Hermine passed through Cedar Key on Friday

A man backs his Jeep up after trying to pass though floodwaters from Hurricane Hermine on Friday in Steinhatchee, Florida

Residents stand in the middle of the street with officers as they wait to be let in to check their homes in Keaton Beach, Florida

The devastation caused by Hermine is shown above in Cedar Key, Florida, leaving a street blocked from debris

Tampa street under water: Wind and rain from Hurricane Hermine toppled trees and power lines along Florida's northern Gulf Coast, inundating coastal areas with storm surges before it weakened to a tropical storm over land and plowed toward the Atlantic Coast on Friday

At Florida's Keaton Beach, just south of the state's Big Bend where the peninsula meets the Panhandle, about two dozen people waited on a road just after sunrise on Friday while trying to get to their homes. 

Police had the road blocked because of flooding.

Taylor County Commissioner Jody DeVane said several homes were damaged.

New father Dustin Beach, 31, rushed to Keaton Beach on Friday from a hospital in Tallahassee where his wife had given birth Thursday night to a girl.

'When my wife got up this morning she said, "Go home and check on the house. I need to know where we're going after we leave the hospital,"' Beach said.

Cindy Simpson was waiting near her car, hoping her beach home and boats had made it. 

'It's a home on stilts so I put everything upstairs. We have two boats in the boat house and I hope they're still there,' she said. 

A woman head to check on damage in Cedar Key, Florida while walking through a road covered in debris following Hermine making landfall on Friday

Surveying the damage: Projected storm surges of up to 12 feet menaced a wide swath of the coast and an expected drenching of up to 10 inches of rain

A front end loader clears debris from a street partially covered in water in Cedar Key on Friday morning

In the path of the storm: Winds and rain from Hurricane Hermine approach Highway 80 that leads to Tybee Island, Georgia on Friday

Recreation: Officials in the affected region on Friday warned that homes continued to be threatened by high water and implored people to avoid flooded roads

While there were no other reports of injuries, emergency crews worked 'non-stop' overnight, rescuing 18 people from rising flood waters in Florida's Pascoe country, and several families in Hernando County, Scott said. 

Pasco County Fire Rescue and sheriff's deputies used high-water vehicles during the rescue and those pulled to safety were taken to a nearby shelter.

The Sunshine Skyway Bridge that spans Tampa Bay remained closed on Friday morning because of high winds.

In Wakulla County, south of Tallahassee, a couple suffered minor injuries during the storm when they drove into a tree that had fallen in the road, County Administrator Dustin Hinkel said early Friday.

He said storm surge of eight to 10 feet damaged docks and flooded coastal roads. At least seven homes were damaged by falling trees, said Scott Nelson, the county's emergency manager.

As the storm barreled across southeastern Georgia, more than 107,000 customers were reported without power across Georgia as crews worked to repair damage left by Hermine.  

FLORIDA GOVERNOR FEARS HERMINE COULD SPREAD ZIKA

A man surveying damage around his home stands in nearly waist-deep water on Friday in Tampa

Florida Governor Rick Scott fears Hurricane Hermine could spread Zika - and experts have said the weather will make it harder for the state to fight the virus.

Once Hermine passes, the remaining water 'will provide all kinds of breeding sites for the mosquitoes,' that can spread Zika, said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of Infectious Diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville.

'We have to get rid of standing water,' Governor Scott said, according to CBS. 'That's the most important thing we can do now and after the this storm hits.'

The hurricane is also likely to disrupt mosquito abatement activities as state authorities prioritize other emergency efforts.

On Thursday, Florida officials said they had trapped the first mosquitoes shown to have the Zika virus - a mosquito-borne virus shown to cause birth defects - after weeks of searching.

Schaffner said the finding showed there is a substantial amount of Zika in circulation. 

Florida is the first state in the continental United States to confirm local Zika transmission, with 47 cases of infection so far, raising concerns among pregnant women and threatening the state's multibillion-dollar tourism industry.

First detected in Brazil last year, Zika can cause the rare birth defect microcephaly, marked by abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains, when pregnant women are infected.

Brazil, has confirmed more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly since last fall.

Earlier this week, Governor Scott urged residents and business owners to remain vigilant against Zika-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes once the storm had passed.

Scott and other state officials have stressed the need to dump standing water and take other steps to eliminate breeding areas.

High winds from the hurricane will also make aerial spraying with pesticides impossible, disrupting a key effort by the state to keep mosquito populations under control, said Joseph Conlon, a retired U.S. Navy entomologist who serves as technical adviser for the American Mosquito Control Association.  

Florida officials have been working to drain water in containers on residents' property and scrub away rings of eggs, but fresh rains from a large storm could refill them, and any remaining eggs could hatch.

Conlon said the storm will also likely hatch hoards of flood water mosquitoes that present a nuisance, but do not carry disease. 

On its current path, the storm could dump as much as 15 inches of rain on coastal Georgia, which was under a tropical storm watch, and the Carolinas. 

Forecasters warned of "life-threatening" floods and flash floods. 

Georgia Power reported on its online outage map shortly before noon on Friday that about 30,000 were in the Savannah area and more than 20,000 others were in the Brunswick area near the coast.

The utility reported that more than 11,000 customers were without power in hard-hit Lowndes County.

Nearly 86,000 of those without power were Georgia Power customers.

Georgia Electric Membership Corp.'s online outage map showed about 21,700 customers of other utilities, many of them in rural areas, were without power shortly before noon. 

Lowndes County spokeswoman Paige Dukes said crews were dealing with fallen trees and snapped power lines, but no injuries had been reported. 

Winds exceeding 55mph had been recorded in the county, with four to five inches of rainfall, she said.

Power: The tropical storm was expected to reach the coastal Carolinas later Friday, then move offshore from North Carolina on Saturday. Forecasters said it could strengthen over the sea

Marooned: As it moved north across Florida, the storm continued to whip up heavy rain

Wrecked: Homes and vehicles sit in several feet of water left behind by the storm surge caused by Hurricane Hermine 

Chaplain Chris Fletcher and his cousin Destiny Peters, seven, rode out the storm in a search and rescue center doubling as a shelter in Hosford, Florida

Chris Hacker hugs his girlfriend Lyn Charlton after the couple arrived at an elementary school in Steinhatchee, Florida, with their dog to spend the night there as the hurricane approached

This is the moment a lightning bolt hit a power station causing a huge spark as Hurricane Hermine battered Florida

Another video shows terrifying winds of up to 80mph lashing a house as residents are warned to take shelter

In South Carolina, the mayor of Charleston, which saw historic flooding less than a year ago, is urging residents there to 'batten down the hatches, hunker down and stay put' as Hermine moves through the state.

Mayor John Tecklenburg said on Friday that the city is blessed that it is not dealing with a major hurricane but officials are taking Hermine seriously.

He said as Hermine approaches, the city is expecting serious winds and rainfall that can lead to flash flooding. He said the city distributed 3,000 sandbags on Thursday.

It has been almost a year since rainfall from what has been described as a 1,000-year-storm inundated South Carolina and caused widespread flooding in Charleston that prompted officials to block people from entering the downtown area.

As of midmorning on Friday, a city map of street closings showed only one street had been blocked by flooding from Hermine.

As Hermine made landfall in Florida, the governors of Georgia and North Carolina declared emergencies in affected regions.

Emergency officials in North Carolina said they have helicopters, boats and high-clearance vehicles on standby in case of flooding or other tropical storm problems.

Pat Bonish cleans up around his business after hurricane Hermine passed through Cedar Key, Florida

Bobbi Pattison, left, with help from her neighbors Hugh and Harriet Oglesby, stands up a sea captain statue carved out of wood from a 1993 storm at her home Friday in Steinhatchee, Florida

Debris left from the storm surge fills a street in Cedar Key after hurricane Hermine passed through the area

Motorists drive by a boat that was tossed onto the road when winds from Hurricane Hermine came ashore early Friday in Dekle Beach, Florida

State emergency management director Michael Sprayberry said on Friday morning that swift water rescue teams and National Guard and law enforcement officers with high-clearance vehicles are staged in the eastern part of the state. Helicopters are also ready to respond.

Gov. Pat McCrory has made an emergency declaration for 33 eastern counties as Tropical Storm Hermine approaches.

There could be high winds and six to eight inches of rain in some areas along the coast, North Carolina officials said.

The forecast for North Carolina has improved, but officials are still concerned about whether the storm could stall over an area and cause flooding, McCrory said.  

Directing the response: The first hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Wilma more than a decade ago, Hermine came ashore early on Friday near St. Marks, Florida, 20 miles (30 km) south of the capital of Tallahassee

Knee deep: The hurricane flooded low-lying areas - raising concerns about the spread of the Zika virus due to the massive pools of standing water left behind

Storm surges of up to 12ft have been predicted, with roads closed as strong winds drive water ashore

Hurricane Hermine was the fourth hurricane of 2016 in the Atlantic basin, and was the first time one had hit Florida in 11 years.

The last hurricane to hit Florida was Wilma in October 2005, which killed a total of 62 in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, Cuba, and Florida, including five in the Sunshine State itself.

The category 5 hurricane had wind speeds of up to 183mph and caused an estimated $23billion in damage in Florida. It is ranked as the fifth costliest storm in US history. 

To date it is the most recent major hurricane to make landfall in the US.  

The U.S. has only recorded four less powerful hurricane strikes in the past seven years: that's the fewest in any seven-year stretch since records began in the 1800s, according to USA Today. 

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, center, and Florida Emergency Management Director Bryan Koon, right, give an update on Hermine at the State Disaster Operations Center in Tallahassee on Thursday

Joseph Keyser, 14, of Harbour Island, is soaked as waves crash against a wall along Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa

Hannah Coles, 9, takes a break from riding her bicycle through the ankle-deep floodwater as the wind whips her face in Gulfport, Florida

Ethan Deming, 15, left, and Jake Kennedy, 16, race their scooters into a flooded South Lagoon Street in Tampa, Florida