Irma left a trail of devastation throughout the Southeast, killing at least five people in the US, flooding major cities including Jacksonville, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina, and leaving millions without power.
On Monday night, Irma was downgraded from a tropical storm to a tropical depression as the storm lumbered 95 miles south-southwest of Atlanta, Georgia. Irma is expected to turn toward Alabama and then into western Tennessee.
Even with Irma's weakening, the tropical depression is still expected to bring heavy rainfall across a widespread area, as it flooded parts of coastal Georgia and South Carolina, including Savannah and Charleston, on Monday. The Weather Prediction Center warned Tuesday of possible flash flooding and heavy rainfall in parts of North and South Carolina.
Irma, which stretched 650 miles from east to west, affected at least nine states, turning streets into rivers, ripping down power lines, uprooting trees and cutting off coastal communities.
Jacksonville grappled with a record storm surge on Monday, prompting the Coast Guard to deploy boats to rescue residents.
Meanwhile, evacuees in Florida were anxious to return and see how their homes weathered the storm. But officials urged patience.
"Check with local officials before returning home to make sure you can safely do so," said Gov. Rick Scott on Monday. "Don't think just because this thing passed, you can run home. We've got downed power lines all across the state. We've got roads that are impassible still across the state. We've got debris all over the state."
He said that standing water remains an issue over the entire peninsula.