Hurricane Matthew Batters Southeast Coast; 6 Dead as Over 1 Million Lose Power - Hurricane Matthew battered the southeast coast early Saturday with powerful winds, storm surges and torrential rain, leaving six people dead and more than 1 million people without power in its wake as officials made last-minute appeals for any remaining holdouts to get out of harm's way.
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| Storm Surge Slams Jacksonville Beach |
The National Hurricane Center last tracked the storm near Savannah, Georgia, heading north toward the coast at 12 mph while packing maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. The NHC downgraded Matthew to a Category 2 storm on Friday, but forecasters warned of of its 9-foot potential storm surge and 15 inches of maximum rainfall -- a combination that can cause deadly flooding.
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 Move to higher ground! Flash Flood Warning including Statesboro GA and Rincon GA until 6:15 AM EDT |
"We expect the center of Hurricane Matthew to come very close to Charleston near daybreak this morning with life threatening storm surge and major flash flooding along the southeast coastline from Georgia to North Carolina," said ABC meteorologist Daniel Manzo.
Six people have died in Florida from the storm.
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| Heavy waves caused by Hurricane Matthew pound the boat docks at the Sunset Bar and Grill, Oct. 7, 2016 |
The hurricane has already claimed hundreds of lives as it tore through Haiti and other Caribbean nations.
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| Debris flies through the air as the eye of Hurricane Matthew nears Daytona Beach, Florida, Oct. 7, 2016. |
The storm is expected to follow the Georgia coast north early Saturday, possibly making landfall around Charleston, South Carolina before continuing on to North Carolina and then veering east over the Atlantic Ocean.
Officials Georgia and South Carolina urged coastal residents to head inland as the most powerful Atlantic storm in more than a decade continued on its path along the coast.
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| Portions of State Road A1A in Flagler County, Florida, were washed away early Friday, Oct. 7, 2016 |
Speaking to ABC News, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate told residents in evacuation zones in Georgia and the Carolinas, "You need to go now."
"Many of these areas have not had this level of flooding since, like, the late 1800s," he said. "We know some people don't evacuate."
FLORIDA
More than 1 million customers were without power in Florida today as hurricane warnings cover hundreds of miles of Florida's east coast. A major hurricane has not struck Florida in over a decade.
Ahead of the storm, more than 1.5 million Floridians were ordered to evacuate as the governor deployed 3,500 National Guard troops to assist in storm preparations. More than 500,000 Florida residents are still in evacuation zones.
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| Flooding was visible at the beach in Jacksonville, Florida, Oct. 7, 2016. |
There were more than 20,000 people in shelters.
"I've never seen anything like this before," Scott said on "Good Morning America" today.
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| An ABC News graphic shows the radar and recent wind gusts from Hurricane Matthew. |
In Brevard County, Florida, the National Weather Service declared an extreme wind warning this morning as the western eye wall of the storm brushed by Cape Canaveral, home of the Kennedy Space Center, producing wind gusts in excess of 100 mph.
GEORGIA
In Georgia, Gov. Nathan Deal has ordered mandatory evacuations east of I-95 along the entire Georgia coast, which is home to popular beach towns like Tybee Island.
The storm is currently nearing Georgia, and will move parallel to the Georgia coast through 4 a.m. Wind gusts of 50 mph were reported in Savannah as of 10 p.m.
Deal said this afternoon that crews are still extricating some people off of Tybee.
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| The Hurricane Matthew forecast tracking map as of 11 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. |
"There comes a point where we cannot jeopardize the lives of our first responders any further," Deal said.
The governor added that he knows people who evacuated are anxious to return home, but they should not put their lives in jeopardy by going back too soon.
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| The Hurricane Matthew alert map as of 11 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. |
Deal said on Thursday, "I don't intend to prosecute anyone for not leaving. ... I think Mother Nature will take care of them."
Deal said today that 9,000 people are in 30 shelters and 1,000 National Guardsmen have been deployed.
Deal told reporters Thursday night, "This is not Southern hospitality we are inviting to Matthew -- we hope he leaves as soon as possible."
SOUTH CAROLINA
In South Carolina, where the storm is expected to make landfall Saturday morning, possibly around 5 a.m., about 1.1 million people were ordered to move from coastal areas.
Gov. Nikki Haley said this evening that 355,000 people have evacuated and over 4,000 are staying in shelters.
"The best thing now is to just hunker down, stay in a safe place," Haley said. "Don’t move, don’t try and move around, make sure you have your cell phones charged.
The storm is expected to hit South Carolina's Beaufort County -- just north of Savannah -- during high tide in the middle of the night, Haley said, adding that she anticipates a large water event. It will move up the coast and will be over Myrtle Beach by noon Saturday.
Haley said this morning the state was preparing for major storm surges, winds, wet grounds, falling trees and power outages. There is "nothing safe about what's getting ready to happen," she said.
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| Flash flood watches have been issued for Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia. |
NORTH CAROLINA
As North Carolina braces for intense winds and rains, Gov. Pat McCrory this afternoon called the storm potentially the worst flooding since Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
Coastal regions could see rainfall totals of 15 inches or more through tonight, Saturday and Sunday, McCrory said. Storm surge totals could reach 2 to 6 feet.
"What we feared is now happening in North Carolina," McCrory said.
Eastern North Carolina will begin to feel impacts from the storm at around 5 a.m. Saturday and they will continue through the evening. By Sunday morning, the storm will move further out to sea.
McCroy said the most immediate concern is life-threatening rain and water, adding that some rivers are already at high levels from past flooding.
U.S. TRAVEL
Hurricane Matthew has caused major transportation disruptions for much of the U.S, with more than 4,200 flights canceled between Wednesday and Saturday. The only airport that is currently closed is Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport; it is expected to reopen on Sunday at 8 a.m.
Amtrak suspended services in the southeast because of the severe weather.
CARIBBEAN
Matthew tore through the Caribbean this week before reaching the U.S. In Haiti, at least 271 people have been confirmed dead, Haiti's Civil Protection Agency told ABC News today, but Reuters, citing local officials, reports that at least 842 individuals have been killed as a result of Hurricane Matthew. However, authorities are struggling to gain a full picture of the death toll as communications are still down in certain areas.
Jean-Michel Vigreux, the country director in Haiti for the nonprofit group CARE, said in a statement Thursday that the southern part of the country is "now cut off from the rest of the country."
He added that the city of Jeremie was in "complete destruction."
Source: www.abcnews.go.com
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