Hurricane Michael, now officially the third-most powerful storm in US history, ripped tree roots out from the ground and tore off roofs as it came ashore.
Two people have died so far, one of whom was a child. Both were kielled by falling trees as the fierce storm whipped up dangerous winds.
Flood waters measuring more than 7.5 feet (2.3 metres) deep struck Apalchicola just two hours after Michael hit, according to Ken Graham, director of the National Hurricane Center.
More than 403,000 homes and business are without power in Florida, Georgia and Alabama, say local power companies.
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Power outages are expected to last several days up to a week.
And it is thought it will be weeks before the affected region will be able to fully recover from the dramatic weather front, which reduced homes to rubble and destroyed vast swathes of land.
AccuWeather Vice President of Forecasting and Graphics Operations Marshall Moss said: “A Category 4 hurricane has never struck that part of Florida.”
“The coastline will be changed for decades.”
Where is Hurricane Michael NOW?
The former hurricane is just 30 miles from August, Georgia and 90 miles from Macon, according to the NHC’s latest 5am EDT (10am BST) update.
Despite weakening to a tropical storm, dangerous wind guests of 50mph are still heading inland.
The NHC said: “On the forecast track, the center of Michael will move through eastern Georgia into central South Carolina this morning, then moves across portions of central and eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia into the Atlantic Ocean by late tonight or early Friday.”
“Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 50 mph (85 km/h) with higher gusts.
“Some additional weakening is expected today while the center remains over land.
“However, Michael is forecast to intensify as it becomes a post-tropical low over the Atlantic late tonight or early Friday.”
Governor Nathan Deal has already declared a state of emergency for 108 counties in Georgia.
He tweeted he had “activated 1,500 Georgia Guardsmen to be placed on standby and deployed as need to areas affected by Hurricane Michael”.
Where is the storm heading next?
The storm will move though Georgia, likely hitting the populated areas Albany, Augusta and Warner Robbins.
After there, the storm will move up through the Carolinas, hit by heavy rains form Hurricane Florence just a few weeks ago.
Fayetteville, Raleigh, Hampton and Virginia Beach are all at risk.
About eight inches of rain is expect to drench the Carolinas while a foot (30 cm) of rain has been forecast for Florida.
Storm surge warnings remain in effect for Panama City, Florida, to Keaten Beach, Florida.
Tropical storm warnings have been issued for the north of Florida’s Fernandina Beach to Duck in North Carolina, plus Pamlico and Albermarle Sounds.