SC escapes the worst of Hurricane Matthew
A deadly Hurricane Matthew made a relentless slog up the South Carolina coast Saturday, leaving in its wake 833,000 customers without power, historic storm surges, flooded streets, washed out roads, uprooted trees and downed power lines.
State officials attributed no deaths in South Carolina to the storm that dumped more than a foot of rain in some areas.
Emergency workers in Florence County continued their search for a person whose car washed off a road. Gov. Nikki Haley said she couldn't rule out fatalities until search and rescue operations are complete.
Thousands were without power Saturday night as barrier islands remained inaccessible and portions of Interstate 95 were shut down while officials waited for floodwaters to recede. Several coastal counties remained under a state-imposed curfew as darkness fell.
The Ravenel Bridge in Charleston, closed much of the day for engineering inspections, was reopened at 7 p.m.
Though several homes and piers were severely damaged or destroyed, particularly on the barrier islands, Haley said the state largely escaped widespread structural damage.
“Bottom line: What we have seen is lots of trees down, lots of power lines down, a lot of roads that are not passable," she said. "We’re not seeing as much structural damage, which is the good news.”
The governor said state authorities working with local officials planned to rescind evacuation orders beginning Sunday. As of Saturday evening, 6,500 were staying in 77 shelters.
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel said 761 state officers and 278 National Guard members were patrolling evacuated areas and other parts of South Carolina where there is no power.
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Authorities received reports of two breached dams in Dillon County and one in Lexington County.
The hurricane roared out of the Caribbean, where it killed hundreds in Haiti. At least 10 U.S. deaths were attributed to Matthew since it hit the Florida coastline as a Category 4 hurricane. The U.S. death toll included one man killed in his Savannah, Georgia, home when he was crushed by a tree that crashed through the roof. His wife had evacuated to Anderson.
After battering Florida on Friday and pounding Savannah overnight, Hurricane Matthew arrived on Charleston's doorstep in the pre-dawn hours Saturday.
The eye of the storm remained offshore as it crept past Charleston, lashing the city with high winds and causing flash flooding that swamped some roads and streets, including the area around the downtown market.
Matthew made landfall southeast of McClellanville about 11 a.m. as a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, the National Weather Service reported.
The storm churned up the South Carolina coast, dumping large amounts of rain, pushing storm surge and battering the coastal region with punishing winds.
The storm brought 10 to 15 inches of rain to the Lowcountry, Pee Dee and Grand Strand, according to the National Weather Service.
The surge that has accompanied Hurricane Matthew generated a record crest of 12.5 feet at Fort Pulaski, above the previous record crest that occurred from Hurricane David in 1979. The Charleston Harbor recorded its third-highest tide at 9.3 feet, the highest since Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
Wind gusts of 88 mph were recorded in Hilton Head Island, 83 mph in Beaufort and 75 in Folly Beach, according to the Weather Service.
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Palmetto Bay Marina, the oldest marina on Hilton Head Island, was swallowed by the storm.
"It looks like it is gone," said Capt. Bob Bromage of the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.
The storm tossed aside boats, damaged piers and turned the island's Harbourtown into a debris field. Edisto Beach's main drag, Palmetto Boulevard, was submerged in 3 to 5 feet of water, the town's mayor, Jan Darby, said in a Facebook post. State 174, which leads to the island, was impassible.
The eye passed over Myrtle Beach at almost precisely high tide about 1:30 p.m. The storm obliterated the Springmaid Pier, sheared off 50 feet of the Surfside Beach pier, shoved water across Ocean Boulevard, knocked down signs and left utility poles leaning precariously. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of uprooted or splintered trees and branches littered roads and yards.
Haley said rising rivers will be an issue of concern in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.
Haley urged people to avoid flood waters.
“Don’t let your kids play in it, don’t walk in it,” she said. “Be very careful. That is where we see the bacteria, that is where we could possibly see chemicals. So it is very, very important to stay out of any of the stormwater as you come across it because it could be dangerous.”
At 5 p.m., Matthew was headed east-northeast with sustained winds of 75 mph. The Category 1 hurricane was 15 miles west-southwest of Cape Fear, North Carolina. The National Hurricane Center's forecast called for Matthew to weaken to a tropical storm as it headed out to sea.