Hurricane Matthew slammed into South Carolina today, 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.
Now weakened, the most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007 left flooding and wind damage in Florida before moving north to soak coastal Georgia and the Carolinas.
Wind speeds had dropped by nearly half from their peak about a week ago to 120 km/h, reducing it to a Category 1 hurricane, the weakest on the Saffir-Simpson scale of 1 to 5.
The National Hurricane Centre warned of potentially life-threatening flooding in Georgia and North Carolina even as the storm slowed as it drove inland.
At least five deaths in Florida were attributed to the storm, which knocked out power to almost 1.6 million households and businesses in the US southeast.
In Florida 775,000 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 power in the state.
Governor Rick Scott of Florida said more than 6,000 people stayed in shelters overnight, but he appeared relieved at a news conference today that the storm had not done more harm.
"We're all blessed that Matthew stayed off our coast," he said. He predicted most people would have power back by tomorrow evening.
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Death toll in Haiti
The toll in the United States was far less devastating than in Haiti, where at least 877 people died earlier, a death tally that ticked up as information trickled in from remote areas.
Matthew howled through Haiti's western peninsula on Tuesday with 233 km/h winds and torrential rain. Some 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said, after the storm lashed coastal villages.
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, 13 of them fatal.
In North Carolina, where the hurricane was due to arrive this evening, Governor Pat McCrory warned storm surges and high winds could cause serious problems.
He said he was "extremely concerned" the downgrade to a Category 1 would cause people not to take warnings seriously.
Forecasters warned of flooding as 40cm of rain were expected to fall in some areas along with massive storm surges and high tides.
