In the coming Labor Day weekend, forecasters predict dangerous surf in the Carolinas due to Tropical Storm Idalia.

Several parts of eastern North Carolina may experience “life-threatening flash flooding” due to up to 9 inches (23 cm) of rain.

As a category three hurricane, Idalia brought mass flooding to Florida on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the storm’s eye will spin off the coast of North Carolina.

The power was still out in more than 200,000 homes and businesses from Florida to Georgia to South and North Carolina.

The US president called Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday to inform him he had signed a major disaster declaration, ordering all federal resources to help with the response to Idalia.

In a press conference, Mr. DeSantis said that Idalia was not as destructive as previously thought.

However, investment bank UBS estimates that insured Florida property losses will amount to $9.36 billion (£7.4 billion).

The maximum sustained wind speed in North Carolina on Thursday was predicted to reach 60mph (96km/h). A tropical storm-force wind extended outward for 185 miles.

The NWS warned that storm surges could cause life-threatening flooding in low-lying coastal areas.

According to the National Weather Service, as the storm churned out into the Atlantic Ocean, life-threatening surf and rip currents would affect the US south-east coast into Labor Day weekend.