South Carolina was the worst-affected state, with 1,089,535 outages recorded as of early Saturday, according to PowerOutage.us, a service that tracks disruptions. In South Carolina's Greenville County alone, 258,688 outages were recorded.

Fear lingers in this hard-hit city, where trees toppled onto houses and several downtown buildings were destroyed.

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — To those who live on the narrow spit of land that is the Pass-a-Grille neighborhood — the tail end of barrier islands extending from St. Pete Beach up to Clearwater known as “The Key West of Tampa Bay beaches” — it’s a slice of paradise developed at the turn of the century and historically sheltered from major storms.