Idalia weakens to a tropical storm after pummeling Florida with record-breaking storm surge and disastrous flooding. Now Georgia and Carolinas are at risk

Editor's Note: Affected by the storm? Use CNN's lite site for low bandwidth.

Idalia weakened to a tropical storm Wednesday evening as it trekked across the Southeast, threatening parts of Georgia and the Carolinas with strong winds and flooding after pummeling parts of Florida.

In Florida's Crystal River, water levels appeared to be receding but a high tide was still expected, making the existing flooding even more dangerous, city council member Ken Frink told CNN Wednesday afternoon.

"Right now, it's still a catastrophic event," Frink said. "All the homes around us, they're all underwater."

In nearby coastal Pasco County, just north of Tampa, roughly 6,000 homes were "inundated with water," according to one official.

"Many of them that we're seeing have major damage. That means that we have water at least 18 inches or higher that have gone into these homes," Laura Wilcoxen, the Pasco County Emergency Management assistant director, told CNN.

The storm was whipping 70 mph winds and was roughly 40 miles west of Savannah, Georgia, according to a 5 p.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center.