Weakened Hurricane Matthew still deadly as it buffets U.S. Southeast
Hurricane Matthew slammed into South Carolina on October 8, packing a diminished yet still powerful punch after killing almost 900 people in Haiti and causing major flooding and widespread power outages as it skirted Florida and Georgia.
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Matthew, which topped out as a ferocious Category 5 storm more than a week ago, made U.S. landfall near McClellanville, South Carolina, a village 30 miles (48 km) north of Charleston that was devastated by a Category 4 hurricane in 1989.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Matthew was passing over Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Saturday afternoon, and warned of potentially life-threatening flooding in Georgia and North Carolina even as the storm slowed as it plowed inland.
The storm has been blamed for at least 11 deaths in the United States - five in Florida, three in North Carolina and three in Georgia, including two people killed by falling trees in Bulloch County, the county coroner said.
The storm knocked out power to nearly 1.6 million households and businesses in the U.S. Southeast, the majority of them in Florida.
The stretch of the Atlantic Coast from Miami to Charleston, a nearly 600-mile drive, encompasses some of the most well-known beaches, resorts and historical towns in the southeastern United States. Parts of Interstate 95, the main north-south thoroughfare on the East Coast, were closed due to flooding and fallen trees, state officials said.
In Florida, almost 879,000 were without power, according to state utilities, while in South Carolina 433,000 had no electricity, Governor Nikki Haley said. Georgia Power said at least 275,000 were without electricity in the state.
Roads in Jackson Beach, Florida, were littered with debris, including chunks from an historic pier dislodged by the storm, with some intersections clogged by up to a foot of standing water. Beachfront businesses suffered moderate damage.
"We rode out the storm. It wasn't this bad at our house, but here there's a lot of damage," said Zowi Cuartas, 18, as he watched bystanders pick up shattered signs near the beach. "We were prepared to lose our house."
Florida Governor Rick Scott said more than 6,000 people stayed in shelters overnight, but he appeared relieved that the state had been spared from greater harm.
"We're all blessed that Matthew stayed off our coast," he said. He predicted most people would have power back by Sunday evening. He did not comment on the death reports, which were confirmed by local officials.
Streets in downtown Charleston, known for its historic waterfront architecture, were flooded to the tops of tires on some parked cars, and a few residents could be seen wading near the city's sea wall as high tide approached.
Tony Williams, 54, who said he is homeless, rode his bicycle against huge wind gusts after spending the night in the garage of a bank. "I just got tired of laying where I was laying," he said.
On Daufuskie Island near the Georgia border, writer Roger Pinckney, 70, said he was fine on Saturday morning after refusing pleas from officials for residents of low-lying barrier islands to evacuate. "It blew like hell," he said.
Charleston officials said they were not aware of any deaths, injuries or significant structural damage. Winds and the threat of tidal surges were expected to diminish through the day.
DEATH TOLL IN HAITI
The casualty toll was far greater in Haiti, where at least 877 people died earlier, a tally that ticked up as information trickled in from remote areas of the impoverished Caribbean island nation.
Matthew howled through Haiti's western peninsula on Tuesday with 145 mph (233 kph) winds and torrential rain. Some 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said, after the storm lashed coastal villages in high surf.
The U.S. military began sending aid to Haiti by air and sea. The U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock ship Mesa Verde was due to arrive on Sunday with heavy-lift helicopters, bulldozers, fresh-water delivery vehicles and two mobile surgical units. Iwo Jima, a second U.S. Navy ship, was due to arrive on Oct. 13.
Aid group Doctors Without Borders was flying personnel to Haiti by helicopter. The Haitian government warned a deadly outbreak of cholera could worsen, confirming dozens of new cases of the water-borne disease since the storm hit, 13 of them fatal.
Officials in Florida, grappling with an outbreak of Zika, said they hoped the flooding would not worsen the spread of the mosquito-borne virus, which can cause fever and birth deformities.
"We have got to get rid of standing water as quickly as we can," Governor Scott told reporters.
FLOODS PREDICTED
In North Carolina, where the hurricane was due to arrive on Saturday evening, Governor Pat McCrory warned storm surges and high winds could cause serious problems. He said he was "extremely concerned" about the public being lulled into complacency by the storm's downgraded classification.
Forecasters warned of widespread flooding with 15 inches (40 cm) of rain expected to fall in some areas, along with massive storm surges and high tides.
Further south, some 8 inches (20 cm) of rain fell in the Savannah, Georgia, area, downing trees and causing flooding.
The National Weather Service said record-high tides were recorded along the Savannah River at the South Carolina-Georgia border, peaking at 12.6 feet, surpassing those from Hurricane David in 1979.
Though gradually weakening, Matthew was forecast to remain a hurricane until at least Sunday, the NHC said.
