The hurricane is currently moving in the north-northeast direction at near 20 miles per hour, the NHC said.
The hurricane's center will move across Georgia and will reach South Carolina later in the day and North Carolina on Thursday, the NHC reported.
“Idalia is then expected to move east-southeastward over the western Atlantic on Friday,” the statement added.
More than 275,000 residents in Florida have no electricity due to the hurricane, according to the Poweroutages.us website tracker.