Weakened Matthew skirts East Coast as a Category 1
Access blocked to communities; at least 10 killed
CHARLESTON, S.C. — After pounding Florida’s east coast, Hurricane Matthew brought flooding, blackouts and road closures to coastal Georgia and the Carolinas on Saturday, cutting off many communities even as it weakened and pushed northward.
But the hurricane’s eye remained mostly offshore, sparing the Atlantic Coast the kind of direct strike that devastated Haiti, where the storm hit earlier in the week as a powerful Category 4 storm and killed hundreds of people.
At least 10 deaths have been attributed to Hurricane Matthew in the United States, and more than 1 million people have lost power.
But the storm grew steadily weaker Saturday as it crawled up the coast. The National Weather Service said the top sustained winds had dropped to 75 mph, barely strong enough to qualify it as a hurricane, though still capable of bringing heavy rain and flooding as the hurricane’s bands passed through the Carolinas.
The storm made landfall Saturday morning near McClellanville, about 30 miles northeast of Charleston, as a Category 1 hurricane.
Despite reports of serious damage in some areas, for the United States, in any case, the hurricane seemed destined to be remembered mostly as an enormous inconvenience rather than a catastrophe. Authorities repeatedly urged residents who were advised to evacuate not to rush back to their homes. ‘Frustration sets in’
“When the storm hits, you’re praying — and then nowthe frustration sets in,” said Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina. “And what I am going to ask for you is patience. Most injuries, most fatalities, occur after a storm because people attempt to move in too soon.”
On Saturday, the economic toll of the hurricane was beginning to emerge; officials said it was the strongest storm to hit the Charleston area since Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
Caroline Wright, a catering manager, said her company alone had 20 canceled weddings over the weekend. And her roommate’s retail store had already been closed for five days.
“It’s a wonderful place to live,” Wright said, “and unfortunately, this is one of the negatives of living here.”
The storm passed the Charleston area at low tide. The water rose higher along the barrier islands south of here, where the surge peaked close to high tide. On sparsely populated Tybee Island, Ga., near Savannah, the ocean rose 12.5 feet, breaking the record set during Hurricane David in 1979, the Chatham County Emergency Management Agency said. The island recorded gusts up to 94 mph.
The storm dropped 9 inches or more of rain across the low-lying areas of Georgia and South Carolina — Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah recorded almost 17 inches — and flash flood warnings were in effect throughout the region.
Roads were clogged or impassible throughout much of the region, with stretches of Interstate 95 shut down. Even in the parts that were open, the interstate in Georgia was an obstacle course of debris, forcing cars and trucks to drive onto the waterlogged shoulders to avoid fallen pine trees that blocked the entire road. Police cars were parked at every exit, blocking drivers from heading toward the coast. Evacuations ordered
Countless other roads were blocked by downed power lines, fallen trees and windblown debris, and bridges were ordered closed.
Utility companies along the coast rushed to restore electricity, and nearly 900,000 homes and businesses in Florida remained without power Saturday. In South Carolina, more than 400,000 customers lacked electricity, as did about 300,000 in Georgia.
Those states, along with North Carolina, ordered the evacuation of areas that are home to nearly 3 million people. On the Central and South Florida coasts, some people who had left for public shelters, hotels or friends’ homes inland were beginning to return.