Matthew no longer a hurricane, but still just as dangerous
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Hurricane Matthew
A water rescue team heads to shore at the onramp of MLK Freeway after rescuing Derrick Williams from the flood waters on Robeson Street on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016, in Fayetteville, N.C. A fast-weakening Hurricane Matthew continued its march along the Atlantic coast Saturday, lashing two of the South's most historic cities and some of its most popular resort islands, flattening trees, swamping streets and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands.
Andrew Craft/The Fayetteville Observer/AP
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Story highlights
NEW: Widespread flooding expected for several days in North Carolina
Matthew is now a post-tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph
CNN
—
Matthew, the deadly storm that’s spread misery from the Caribbean to the Carolinas, is no longer a hurricane. But even as it heads out to sea, the storm is causing serious problems for the southeastern United States.
North Carolina is feeling the brunt. The eastern part of the state will deal with devastating flooding for several days as rivers top their banks.
One thousand people in North Carolina have been rescued, some in dramatic helicopter operations, and 3,000 people are still living in shelters, authorities said Sunday. More than 585,00 customers still lacked electricity Sunday night.
“Hurricane Matthew may be off the map, but it is still with us,” North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory said Sunday.
As of 5 p.m. ET Sunday Matthew was about 200 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and heading east at 15 mph.
The latest
• The National Hurricane Center says Matthew is no longer a hurricane and is now considered a post-tropical cyclone. Despite its new title, it’s still packing maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) – the same as a Category 1 hurricane, forecasters said.
Matthew’s only change is in its “core structure,” hence the change to a cyclone, CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar said. However, she warned, the change in name does not mean it’s any less dangerous.
“It’s still packing the same hurricane-force winds and potential for flooding and is still as deadly as a hurricane,” she said.
• Matthew killed at least 17 people in four states – seven in North Carolina, four in Florida, three in Georgia and three in South Carolina, authorities said.
• Nearly 1,000 people have been rescued in North Carolina after Matthew battered the eastern part of the state. That number includes 701 rescued in Cumberland County alone, authorities said Sunday. The number is expected to rise as people remain trapped in their homes, authorities said. Four people remain missing in Cumberland County.
• City officials in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia, declared a local state of emergency. Officials in both cities issued statements urging citizens to stay off roads and opened emergency shelters.
• The storm has killed hundreds in the Caribbean, almost entirely in Haiti. More than 330 people died in Haiti, according to the nation’s Civil Protection Service.
Others reported much higher deaths. A count by Reuters, based on information from local civil protection officials, puts the death toll in Haiti at well over 800. Four deaths were reported in the Dominican Republic and one in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
• President Obama, speaking Sunday at an event for an Illinois candidate, said people affected by the storm will receive the aid they need. “There’s been a really serious hurricane,” the President said. “People were hit. They weren’t hit as directly as we had feared but it has left a lot of destruction in its wake.”
Out to sea
Although it’s slowly moving out into the Atlantic, Matthew will continue to lash eastern North Carolina with heavy rainfall and strong winds Sunday, and as a result massive flooding will continue to plague that part of the state, CNN meteorologist Jennifer Varian said.
But these will likely be the storm’s last gasps. Forecasters say Matthew will die out in the Atlantic in about 48 hours, meaning it won’t have a chance to loop back and hit land again as previously predicted.
“It’s going to die off too quickly,” said Chinchar. “It’s going to go to the east and die off.”
North Carolina
North Carolina’s McCrory said the flooding – aided by wind-driven storm surges of up to six feet – is the state’s big concern right now.
“We have major neighborhoods under water, (there) could be back roads where people were swept away,” McCrory said during a news conference Sunday. Some of the rescues included people being pulled off of rooftops and a nurse found clinging to a tree in the flood waters.
McCrory said 400 buildings flooded in Lumberton, and authorities are forecasting 300 buildings in Greenville will flood. More than 1,000 people have been rescued in the state, he said. The Coast Guard deployed a helicopter to pluck eight people from rooftops in the town of Pinetops.
The Tar River is expected to crest at 35.8 feet, more than 15 feet above flood stage, authorities said. Mandatory evacuation orders were issued Sunday for parts of Greenville, Goldsboro, Princeville, Tarboro and other towns because of the flooding.
“It’s just like Floyd,” said Kim Denny, a county employee, referring to the impacts of Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
The governor said there are reports of a hotel in Southport that had to be abandoned because of a potential wall break, so 70 people were put into a shelter there. He also received a report that a pier at the seaside town of Oak Island had been damaged.
About 585,399 customers are without power, the North Carolina Emergency Management said late Sunday on Twitter. Interstate 95, which traverses eastern North Carolina, is closed in three locations in the state.
One of the cities hardest hit by the flooding has been Fayetteville, where National Guard members waded through chest-high waters to save those stranded. Trees are down throughout the city.
Matthew’s heavy rains caused two dams to be breached in North Carolina: the Lake Benson Dam near Raleigh and a dam near Lumberton.
The problems won’t ease soon. “This is a prolonged event,” North Carolina Emergency Management said on Twitter.
Flooding in Georgia, South Carolina
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Sunday that evacuation orders had been lifted in Charleston, Dorchester, Berkeley and Colleton counties. But evacuation orders remain in Beaufort, Georgetown, Horry and Jasper counties.
Three people died In South Carolina, David L. Outlaw, 66, was found pinned beneath his wheelchair in standing water at a nursing facility’s courtyard. The cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation (drowning), Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said. In Florence County, Deputy Coroner Bo Myers said bodies were found in vehicles in Florence and Pamplico. Autopsies are pending, he said.
Officials in the state are dealing with more than just floodwaters in Matthew’s wake. A large fire ripped through several beachfront condos and homes in North Myrtle Beach Saturday night. The area had been evacuated in advance of Hurricane Matthew, so officials believe the buildings were empty when the fire hit, according to CNN affiliate WPDE.
Ordnance disposal teams were sent to Folly Beach, South Carolina, on Sunday morning after a beach walker discovered old military ordnance washed up on the beach, Andrew Gilreath, city director of public safety, told CNN. Officials told CNN affiliate WCSC the ordnance appeared to be Civil War cannonballs.
The storm left more than 2 million utility customers without power Saturday night in South Carolina (833,000), Florida (673,000), North Carolina (457,000) and Georgia (276,000).
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Rainier Ehrhardt/AP
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.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Joe Burbank/AP
Workers repair downed power lines in Daytona Beach, Florida, on October 10.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Sean Rayford/Getty Images
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.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Sean Rayford/Getty Images
Floodwaters inundate a home in Lumberton on October 10.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Rainier Ehrhardt/AP
Floodwaters surround a house in Nichols, South Carolina, on October 10.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Rainier Ehrhardt/AP
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley checks flooding near Nichols on October 10.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Rainier Ehrhardt/AP
Floodwaters surround power lines near Nichols on October 10.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
David Goldman/AP
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.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Chuck Liddy/AP
Anthony Writebol, left, and his cousin Melissa Hill paddle past a stranded tractor-trailer in Lumberton on October 9.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Andrew Craft/The Fayetteville Observer/AP
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.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Chris Seward/AP
People stop and take pictures of Highway 58, which was flooded in Nashville, North Carolina, on October 9.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
David Goldman/AP
Boats are pushed up among twisted docks in Hilton Head on October 9.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Chris Seward/AP
Rescue workers help several dogs that were trapped in homes in Pinetops, North Carolina, on October 9.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Travis Long/AP
A section of Wayne Memorial Drive was washed out in Goldsboro, North Carolina.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Brian Blanco/Getty Images
John Tweedy wades into the swift-moving floodwaters surrounding his business in McClellanville, South Carolina, on Saturday, October 8.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Stephen B. Morton/AP
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.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Charlie Riedel/AP
Volunteers clear debris from from a pool at a condominium complex in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, on October 8.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
David Goldman/AP
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.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
David Goldman/AP
A downed tree and power lines block a road on Georgia's St. Simons Island on October 8.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Gerry Broome/AP
A woman fights the wind in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, on October 8.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Eric Gay/AP
Parts of Highway A1A in Flagler Beach, Florida, were washed away by Hurricane Matthew on Friday, October 7.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
John Bazemore/AP
Water flows over a seawall and fills the streets of St. Augustine, Florida, on October 7.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Brian Blanco/Getty Images
Barbara Hearst tapes her storm shutters as Hurricane Matthew nears Charleston, South Carolina, on October 7.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Mic Smith/AP
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.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
James McEntee/ Verbatim/CNN
A damaged boat sits partially submerged on the intercoastal waterway in Melbourne, Florida, on October 7.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
A police officer helps persuade a woman to board a bus and evacuate Savannah, Georgia, on October 7.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Stephen B. Morton/AP
Preston Payne tries to hold his umbrella on Georgia's Tybee Island on October 7.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Heavy waves pound boat docks in Cocoa Beach, Florida, on October 7.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
A women helps a dog walk through floodwaters in Port Orange, Florida, on October 7.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
James McEntee/ Verbatim for CNN
Damage in Cocoa Beach.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
John Bazemore/AP
Waves crash against a bridge in St. Augustine, Florida.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Charlie Riedel/AP
A car drives past a downed tree as the hurricane moves through Daytona Beach, Florida, on October 7.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Wilfredo Lee/AP
A billboard canvas flaps in the wind after Hurricane Matthew passed North Palm Beach, Florida, on October 7.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
CRISTOBAL HERRERA/EPA
A woman inspects her damaged car under a tree in Fort Pierce, Florida, on October 7.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
A space shuttle model stands near some downed trees after Hurricane Matthew passed by Cocoa Beach.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Chris O'Meara/AP
A woman uses her phone under a battery-operated lantern at a hotel in Titusville, Florida, on October 7.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Palm trees on Cocoa Beach sway in the wind on October 7.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via USA TODAY NETWORK/SIPA
Firefighters respond to a pre-dawn house fire in Satellite Beach, Florida, that was possibly caused by a downed power line on October 7.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Craig Rubadoux/Florida Today via AP
Heavy rain billows in front of Exploration Tower in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on October 7.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
James McEntee/Verbatim for CNN
People stand on a beach in Broward County, Florida, as the storm approached the coast on Thursday, October 6.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A police officer walks along the beach in Singer Island, Florida, on October 6.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Kevin Forde and John Haughey put plywood on a Miami Beach window on October 6.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Tim Aylen/AP
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.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
GREGG NEWTON/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
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.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Tim Aylen/AP
A man rakes up debris from a storm drain as he begins cleanup near a damaged gas station in Nassau on October 6.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Dieu Nalio Chery/AP
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.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Dieu Nalio Chery/AP
Girls hold hands as they help each other wade through a flooded street in Les Cayes on October 6.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Dieu Nalio Chery/AP
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.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
BRUCE WEAVER/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
A supermarket shelf is nearly cleared out in Titusville, Florida, on Wednesday, October 5.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Robert Ray for CNN
Bumper-to-bumper traffic lines Interstate 26 in Columbia, South Carolina, as people drive west on October 5.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Malcolm Denemark/AP
Workers start removing umbrellas and the colorful rocking chairs that line the Cocoa Beach Pier in Cocoa Beach, Florida, on October 5.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Orlando Barria/EFE/EPA
People carry a coffin and try to cross the La Digue river on October 5 after a bridge collapsed in Petit-Goave, Haiti.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images
People cross the La Digue river on October 5.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
YAMIL LAGE/AFP/Getty Images
Evacuees return to their homes in the Carbonera community of Guantanamo, Cuba, on October 5.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Ramon Espinosa/AP
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.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Ramon Espinosa/AP
A woman cries amid the rubble of her home in Baracoa.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Mic Smith/AP
Bus drivers in North Charleston, South Carolina, wait for word to start evacuations.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Ramon Espinosa/AP
The high winds of Hurricane Matthew roar over Baracoa on Tuesday, October 4.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Mic Smith/AP
Beth Johnson fills up her car at a gas station in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, on October 4.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
ERIKA SANTELICES/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
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.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Ezekiel Abiu Lopez/AP
A worker clears a sewer on a flooded street in Santo Domingo.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Amy Beth Bennett/AP
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.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images
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.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images
People observe the flooding of a river near Port-au-Prince on October 4.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
ERIKA SANTELICES/AFP/Getty Images
Children swim in a flooded neighborhood of Santo Domingo on October 4.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images
A truck used as public transportation drives through flooded streets in Port-au-Prince on October 4.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Dieu Nalio Chery/AP
Hurricane winds blow against palm trees in Port-au-Prince.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Dieu Nalio Chery/AP
A food vendor lays out goods for sale during a light rain in Port-au-Prince on October 4.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Dieu Nalio Chery/AP
Haitian civil protection workers arrive to evacuate the Tabarre region of Haiti on October 3.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Dieu Nalio Chery/AP
Officials urge residents to evacuate their homes in the Grise River area of Tabarre on October 3.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images
Clouds loom over the hills of the Petionville suburb of Port-au-Prince on October 3.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Ramon Espinosa/AP
Families seek shelter from Hurricane Matthew at a university facility in Guantanamo, Cuba.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Eduardo Verdugo/AP
People near Kingston, Jamaica, take a photo in front of the rough surf produced by Hurricane Matthew on October 3.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
A backhoe removes garbage to clear a canal in Port-au-Prince on October 3.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Dieu Nalio Chery/AP
Nice Simon, the mayor of Tabarre, Haiti, holds a baby as she helps evacuate the area along a river.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
People stock up on food at a supermarket in Port-au-Prince on Sunday, October 2.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Ramon Espinosa/AP
A worker dismantles a traffic light in Santiago before Hurricane Matthew struck Cuba.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Collin Reid/AP
Motorists drive through heavy rains in Kingston, Jamaica, on October 2.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
STR/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Residents of Cuba's Holguin Province line up to buy gas on October 2.
Photos: Hurricane Matthew's path of destruction
Collin Reid/AP
A worker nails a board to a storefront window in Kingston on Saturday, October 1.
In the coastal Georgia city of Savannah, Sue Alice Walker, 85, said she was sleeping in her house when she awoke to find 3 inches of water flowing inside.
Sue Alice Walker, 85, of Savannah, Georgia
CNN
“First I saw it in the living room, then in the kitchen, and then last it came in my son’s room,” she told CNN’s Sara Ganim, adding that she spent the rest of the night and much of Saturday morning mopping and shoveling the water into buckets.
In Charleston, the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, a major entry point to the city, was reopened after being inspected by engineers, the Post-Courier reported.
Storm surges sent water spilling into Myrtle Beach’s streets Saturday before the storm’s center arrived, video posted by CNN affiliate WPDE showed.
“I’m going to ask for patience. … Do not plan to go home,” Haley said, asserting that driving conditions weren’t safe.
A Tybee Island resident described the moment when the storm hit his home.
“As nightfall hit the winds increased and it was just constant just constant wind,” the unidentified man told CNN. “All of our windows got immediately blown out. I lost power. All the fencing around my home went down like matchsticks.”
Florida
In Florida, Matthew left a trail of destruction.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott took a tour of some it Sunday, taking an aerial tour around Duval County and surveying damage to a beach near Jacksonville.
Scott saidthat the damage he saw – beach erosion and washed out roads – was “unbelievable,” but he was glad Matthew stayed largely off of Florida’s shores.
“If it had a direct impact hit, it would have been a lot worse for our families,” he told CNN affiliate WJAX.
Scott said about 132,000 homes are without power right now, but the cleanup is proceeding quickly in areas hit by the storm. His goal is to get most schools and businesses open on Monday, he said.
During the storm water rushed through streets, making roadways look more like rivers in parts of Jacksonville, Merritt Island, Fleming Island and other Florida communities.
Florida struggled with the rising water, rain and strong winds as meteorologists said the storm surge was more than 4 feet in some areas.
Nick Lomasney walks on a flooded street in St Augustine, Florida.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Jacksonville was not battered as heavily as initially feared. But several communities nearby received extensive damage with water surging down some streets, and massive trees toppled over.
Part of the Jacksonville Beach Pier washed away Friday morning, according to CNN affiliate WFOX/WJAX. The original pier was washed away during Hurricane Floyd and rebuilt a few years later, the station said.
CNN’s David Alsup, Sheena Jones, Sara Ganim, Derek Van Dam, Nick Valencia, Rolando Zenteno, Dave Hennen, Michael Guy, Susanna Capelouto, Joe Sutton, Judson Jones, Steve Almasy and Stephanie Elam contributed to this report.
