STEINHATCHEE, Fla. — The first hurricane to hit Florida in 11 years, Hermine, made landfall early Friday, touching down as a Category 1 Gulf Coast storm in the northwestern part of the state before weakening and heading into Georgia.

Hermine quickly weakened to a tropical storm as it raced through Georgia and the Carolinas. But the National Hurricane Center predicted it would regain hurricane strength after emerging in the Atlantic Ocean.

A tropical storm watch has been issued from New Jersey to Rhode Island through Labor Day, the National Hurricane Center said.

At least one death has been attributed to the storm. A homeless man in Marion County, south of Gainesville, Fla., died when a tree fell on him, Governor Rick Scott said.

An estimated 325,000 people were without power in Florida and more than 107,000 in Georgia, officials said.

In the Pacific, Hurricane Lester was on track to blow past Hawaii on Saturday and Sunday, running north of the island chain and parallel to the islands, forecasters said.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said Friday that officials are not expecting a major impact from Lester, but they’re preparing shelters just in case. Campgrounds on Oahu remained open as the hurricane approached, but campers were warned they faced a wet weekend.

The National Hurricane Center said Hermine made landfall at 1:30 a.m. near the tiny town of St. Marks, Fla., 30 minutes south of Tallahassee, with winds of 80 miles per hour.

The storm is expected to soak Georgia and the Carolinas through the weekend.

As Hurricane Hermine swept over St. Marks, there were major storm surges, widespread power losses from Tampa to Tallahassee and beyond, and a large number of downed trees.

Schools and state offices in affected Florida counties remained closed Friday.

“There is a lot of work left to do and we will spend the coming days assessing damage left by the hurricane,’’ said Scott, who rode out part of the storm in the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee, where several trees toppled on the property.

On Cedar Key, a historic village of 700 people that is popular with tourists, the police chief, Virgil Sandlin, said the town had been “devastated’’ by the wind and the rain and by a 9-foot storm surge that coincided with high tide.

Many houses lost walls as the wind pried them loose or trees crashed down, and floodwaters invaded many homes and businesses in the Gulf village more than two hours north of Tampa. City Hall flooded, and the town’s main thoroughfare, Dock Street, was seriously damaged.

“I’ve been here 34 years, and I’ve never seen anything like that,’’ he said. “In my view, we got the worst damage. It’s devastating, almost breathtaking to see what wind and water has done compared to some of the other systems that have come through here.’’

Some businesses looked too badly damaged to repair, he said. “There will be a lot of them that will be fixable, and some of them no.’’

To the north, in St. Marks, which is home to 300 people, water poured into a bed-and-breakfast as the hurricane came ashore. In Taylor County to the south, the county administrator, Dustin Kinkle, said the coast had “sustained severe damage.’’ In Hernando Beach, residents were using boats to evacuate their houses.

In Steinhatchee, a small fishing community in Taylor County, some residents were being ferried by boat back and forth to their homes. The county battled a 9-foot surge of water and the Florida National Guard had pulled into town, ready to start cleaning up.

Scott, who declared emergencies for 51 Florida counties, had urged people from Jacksonville to Tampa to seek shelter and to ensure that their phones were charged and that they had sufficient food, water, and medicine.