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Story highlights
- Storm's center is about 70 miles from Savannah, Georgia
- Death toll in Florida is four
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(CNN)Floridians along the Atlantic coast were coping Friday with rising water as Hurricane Matthew drenched the state with rain and as strong winds pushed waves over beaches.
Meteorologists said storm surge was measured at more than 4 feet in some areas.
"We are seeing impacts right now from St. Augustine to Jacksonville Beach. Unfortunately, this is going to continue through the night," Gov. Rick Scott said.
The storm, which is blamed for four deaths in Florida, sparked flash-flood concerns. The National Weather Service issued a warning for parts of Nassau County, north of Jacksonville.
"The combination of a dangerous storm surge, the tide and large and destructive waves will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline," the National Hurricane Center said.
Special concern surrounded Jacksonville's St. Johns River, which could be overwhelmed by water pushed into it by the storm. The hurricane center said a tide gauge reported storm surge of 4.28 feet.
After killing hundreds in Haiti and other Caribbean nations, Matthew's frightening power led to the deaths of four people in Florida. The list included a woman in her 60s in Volusia County, hit by a falling tree, and an 82-year-old man and a woman in St. Lucie County, officials said. The latter two had medical emergencies and responders were unable to reach them in time because of hazardous weather.
A woman in northeast Florida died after a tree fell on her camper trailer, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said.
The Category 2 hurricane, while losing some of its wind speed, left more than 1 million people without power in Florida as it spent the day plowing north just off the state's east coast. Late Friday, Matthew was hovering off the coast of Georgia and headed toward South Carolina, where officials issued warnings about the possibility of treacherous storm surge and up to 15 inches of rain.
Matthew is expected to arrive near or over the shores of South Carolina by Saturday and over to North Carolina by Saturday evening.
Winds were already blustery in Hilton Head, South Carolina, with one gust measured at 63 mph.
It's not as if Matthew -- with winds of 105 mph -- won't cause further damage with its powerful winds.
"Just because the center of circulation is offshore doesn't mean you can't be the center of action (along the coast)," National Hurricane Center Director Rick Knabb said. "It's going to get a lot worse before it (has) a chance of getting better."
Here's what you need to know:
• As of 11 p.m. ET, Matthew's center was over the Atlantic, about 70 miles south-southeast of Savannah, Georgia, the National Hurricane Center said. Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 60 miles from that center. It was moving north at 12 mph.
• A total of 1.1 million customers in Florida were without power.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
People wade through floodwaters with a boat in Nichols, South Carolina, on Monday, October 10. Hurricane Matthew caused flooding and damage in the Southeast -- from Florida to North Carolina -- after slamming Haiti and other countries in the Caribbean.
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Workers repair downed power lines in Daytona Beach, Florida, on October 10.
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Rescue teams maneuver through floodwaters in Lumberton, North Carolina, on October 10. President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in North Carolina and ordered federal aid to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts.
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Floodwaters inundate a home in Lumberton on October 10.
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Floodwaters surround a house in Nichols, South Carolina, on October 10.
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South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley checks flooding near Nichols on October 10.
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Floodwaters surround power lines near Nichols on October 10.
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Without power in the hurricane's aftermath, Missy Zinc shines a light so her husband, Shawn, can prepare steaks to grill in Hilton Head, South Carolina, on Sunday, October 9.
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Anthony Writebol, left, and his cousin Melissa Hill paddle past a stranded tractor-trailer in Lumberton on October 9.
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A man clings to a road sign after trying to swim out to help a stranded truck driver in Hope Mills, North Carolina, on October 9. Both were rescued.
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People stop and take pictures of Highway 58, which was flooded in Nashville, North Carolina, on October 9.
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Boats are pushed up among twisted docks in Hilton Head on October 9.
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Rescue workers help several dogs that were trapped in homes in Pinetops, North Carolina, on October 9.
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A section of Wayne Memorial Drive was washed out in Goldsboro, North Carolina.
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John Tweedy wades into the swift-moving floodwaters surrounding his business in McClellanville, South Carolina, on Saturday, October 8.
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A woman who gave her name only as Valerie walks along flooded President Street after leaving her homeless camp in Savannah, Georgia, on October 8.
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Volunteers clear debris from from a pool at a condominium complex in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, on October 8.
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A police officer steps through the remnants of a home leveled by Hurricane Matthew in the tiny beach community of Edisto Beach, South Carolina, on October 8.
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A downed tree and power lines block a road on Georgia's St. Simons Island on October 8.
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A woman fights the wind in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, on October 8.
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Parts of Highway A1A in Flagler Beach, Florida, were washed away by Hurricane Matthew on Friday, October 7.
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Water flows over a seawall and fills the streets of St. Augustine, Florida, on October 7.
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Barbara Hearst tapes her storm shutters as Hurricane Matthew nears Charleston, South Carolina, on October 7.
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Adam and Alec Selent watch waves crash over a retainer wall at the Ocean Club condominiums in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, on October 7.
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A damaged boat sits partially submerged on the intercoastal waterway in Melbourne, Florida, on October 7.
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A police officer helps persuade a woman to board a bus and evacuate Savannah, Georgia, on October 7.
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Preston Payne tries to hold his umbrella on Georgia's Tybee Island on October 7.
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Heavy waves pound boat docks in Cocoa Beach, Florida, on October 7.
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A women helps a dog walk through floodwaters in Port Orange, Florida, on October 7.
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Damage in Cocoa Beach.
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Waves crash against a bridge in St. Augustine, Florida.
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A car drives past a downed tree as the hurricane moves through Daytona Beach, Florida, on October 7.
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A billboard canvas flaps in the wind after Hurricane Matthew passed North Palm Beach, Florida, on October 7.
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A woman inspects her damaged car under a tree in Fort Pierce, Florida, on October 7.
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A space shuttle model stands near some downed trees after Hurricane Matthew passed by Cocoa Beach.
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A woman uses her phone under a battery-operated lantern at a hotel in Titusville, Florida, on October 7.
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Palm trees on Cocoa Beach sway in the wind on October 7.
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Firefighters respond to a pre-dawn house fire in Satellite Beach, Florida, that was possibly caused by a downed power line on October 7.
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Heavy rain billows in front of Exploration Tower in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on October 7.
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People stand on a beach in Broward County, Florida, as the storm approached the coast on Thursday, October 6.
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A police officer walks along the beach in Singer Island, Florida, on October 6.
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Kevin Forde and John Haughey put plywood on a Miami Beach window on October 6.
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Hurricane Matthew moves through Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas, on October 6. Capt. Stephen Russell, the head of the Bahamas National Emergency Management Authority, said there were many downed trees and power lines but no reports of casualties.
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People leave Disney's Magic Kingdom theme park, in heavy rain, after it closed in Orlando, Florida in preparation for the landfall of Hurricane Matthew, on October 6.
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A man rakes up debris from a storm drain as he begins cleanup near a damaged gas station in Nassau on October 6.
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Residents repair their homes in Les Cayes, Haiti, on October 6. The damage from Hurricane Matthew was especially brutal in southern Haiti, where sustained winds of 130 mph punished the country.
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Girls hold hands as they help each other wade through a flooded street in Les Cayes on October 6.
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Two days after the storm, authorities and aid workers in Haiti still lacked a clear picture of what they fear is the country's biggest disaster in years.
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A supermarket shelf is nearly cleared out in Titusville, Florida, on Wednesday, October 5.
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Bumper-to-bumper traffic lines Interstate 26 in Columbia, South Carolina, as people drive west on October 5.
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Workers start removing umbrellas and the colorful rocking chairs that line the Cocoa Beach Pier in Cocoa Beach, Florida, on October 5.
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People carry a coffin and try to cross the La Digue river on October 5 after a bridge collapsed in Petit-Goave, Haiti.
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People cross the La Digue river on October 5.
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Evacuees return to their homes in the Carbonera community of Guantanamo, Cuba, on October 5.
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People embrace at their damaged home in Baracoa, Cuba. The hurricane rolled across the sparsely populated tip of Cuba, destroying dozens of homes in the country's easternmost city and leaving hundreds of others damaged.
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A woman cries amid the rubble of her home in Baracoa.
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Bus drivers in North Charleston, South Carolina, wait for word to start evacuations.
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The high winds of Hurricane Matthew roar over Baracoa on Tuesday, October 4.
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Beth Johnson fills up her car at a gas station in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, on October 4.
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The mother of two girls who died in the storm is comforted near her home in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on October 4. The girls were killed when a landslide caused by flooding breached the walls of their house.
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A worker clears a sewer on a flooded street in Santo Domingo.
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Anita Baranyi feeds her baby while keeping an eye on the generator she intends to purchase from a home-improvement store in Oakland Park, Florida, on October 4.
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People wade through the flooded streets of Cite Soleil in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on October 4. Hurricane Matthew is the strongest storm to hit Haiti since 1964 and the first hurricane to make landfall in the country since the devastating earthquake in 2010.
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People observe the flooding of a river near Port-au-Prince on October 4.
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Children swim in a flooded neighborhood of Santo Domingo on October 4.
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A truck used as public transportation drives through flooded streets in Port-au-Prince on October 4.
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Hurricane winds blow against palm trees in Port-au-Prince.
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A food vendor lays out goods for sale during a light rain in Port-au-Prince on October 4.
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Haitian civil protection workers arrive to evacuate the Tabarre region of Haiti on October 3.
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Officials urge residents to evacuate their homes in the Grise River area of Tabarre on October 3.
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Clouds loom over the hills of the Petionville suburb of Port-au-Prince on October 3.
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Families seek shelter from Hurricane Matthew at a university facility in Guantanamo, Cuba.
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People near Kingston, Jamaica, take a photo in front of the rough surf produced by Hurricane Matthew on October 3.
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A backhoe removes garbage to clear a canal in Port-au-Prince on October 3.
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Nice Simon, the mayor of Tabarre, Haiti, holds a baby as she helps evacuate the area along a river.
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People stock up on food at a supermarket in Port-au-Prince on Sunday, October 2.
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A worker dismantles a traffic light in Santiago before Hurricane Matthew struck Cuba.
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Motorists drive through heavy rains in Kingston, Jamaica, on October 2.
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Residents of Cuba's Holguin Province line up to buy gas on October 2.
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A worker nails a board to a storefront window in Kingston on Saturday, October 1.
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• The National Weather Service warned that some places hit by Matthew could be uninhabitable for "weeks or months."
• The storm has killed at least 300 people in three Caribbean countries. The majority died in Haiti, said Civil Protection Service spokesman Joseph Edgard Celestin.
Nick Lomasney walks on a flooded street in St Augustine, Florida.
Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina
As northeastern Florida braced for impact, coastal communities in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina also were on notice. The storm's center could be near or over the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina on Saturday, the hurricane center said.
Georgia:
• Glynn County officials wrote on Facebook that "Conditions have deteriorated to a point that persons remaining in (the area near Brunswick) are advised to shelter in place for the remainder of the storm."
• Maj. Tommy Tillman of the Chatham County Sheriff's Office said the road to Tybee Island is closed.
• In Savannah, Mayor Eddie DeLoach warned those who stay that they'd be on their own.
• Gov. Nathan Deal has ordered evacuations for all counties east of Interstate 95. Deal has activated 1,000 National Guard troops.
South Carolina
• Four counties and one city in South Carolina will be under nighttime curfews until further notice, said state Emergency Management Division spokesman Derrec Becker. Dorchester, Beaufort, Jasper and Williamsburg counties will be under curfew. Charleston's curfew starts at midnight. The curfews end each morning, at different times.
How to prepare for a hurricane 01:00
• Gov. Nikki Haley warned residents who didn't evacuate to go to a shelter. A major storm surge of 8 feet or more is approaching low-lying areas in the state, including Charleston.
• Although 310,000 people have evacuated the area, Haley says that's not enough. Officials in some areas are going door to door, urging people to leave. Police in Pawleys Island asked residents who decided to stay in spite of the evacuation orders to sign a waiver and list their next of kin, according to CNN affiliate WBTW.
North Carolina
• Gov. Pat McCrory said the forecast had changed, to North Carolina's detriment. "What we feared is now happening in North Carolina. The (hurricane forecast) model has changed dramatically," he said. "The immediate concern is life-threatening rain and water (from storm surge)."
See Hurricane Matthew churn from space 00:45
• Officials are concerned that areas -- such as Fayetteville, home to the Army's Fort Bragg -- that were recently flooded will see more rain from Matthew.