Hurricane Matthew slammed into South Carolina on Saturday, 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 slowly north to soak coastal Georgia and the Carolinas. Wind speeds had dropped by nearly half from their peak about a week ago to 75 miles per hour (120 kph), reducing it to a Category 1 hurricane, the weakest on the Saffir-Simpson scale of 1 to 5.

Matthew, which topped out as a ferocious Category 5 storm more than a week ago, made landfall near McClellanville, a village 30 miles north of Charleston that was devastated by a Category 4 hurricane in 1989.

The National Hurricane Service said Matthew was over Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Saturday afternoon, and 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 U.S. Southeast.

The stretch of the Atlantic coast from Miami to Charleston, a nearly 600-mile drive, encompasses some of the most well-known beaches, resorts and historical towns in the southeastern United States. Parts of Interstate 95, the main north-south thoroughfare on the East Coast, were closed due to flooding and fallen trees, state officials said.

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. </s> CHARLESTON, S.C./SAVANNAH, Ga.—Matthew was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Sunday, Oct. 9, as it struck North Carolina and Virginia with a diminished yet still potent punch, causing flooding and widespread power outages along the U.S. Atlantic coast after killing hundreds in Haiti.

The most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007 unleashed torrential rains and powerful winds as it churned slowly north after pummeling the southeastern coast of the United States, killing at least 11 people in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina since Thursday and leaving more than two million businesses and homes without power.

Damage in the United States, however, was much less than in Haiti, where Matthew took nearly 900 lives. At least 13 people on the Caribbean island have also died from outbreaks of cholera since the storm, and around 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said.

Matthew continued to threaten coastal communities in North Carolina and Virginia, where flash flood warnings were in effect and gusts of 75 miles per hour were recorded.

"The wind is bending the trees to a 90 degree angle in my backyard, I've lost electrical power in my home and the rain is blowing sideways," Frank Gianinni, a 59-year-old occupational therapist, said in an email from his home in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Forecasters said widespread flooding was possible from heavy rain - 20 inches was expected to fall in some areas - along with storm surges and high tides.

"We are looking at very significant flooding. Almost every road in the city is impassable," Virginia Beach spokeswoman Erin Sutton told the Weather Channel from the city of almost 500,000 people between Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

Media showed footage from across the region of motorists and passengers sitting and standing on vehicles stuck in rushing flood waters as crews used swift water boats to rescue the stranded. In Cumberland County, North Carolina alone, more than 500 people were rescued by crews, the Weather Channel reported.

At 4:00 a.m. CST on Sunday, the storm was about 50 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. The center of the storm was set to move south of the North Carolina coast early on Sunday and well east of the state later in the day as it weakens.

Matthew, which days ago briefly topped out as a ferocious Category 5 storm, made U.S. landfall on Saturday near McClellanville, South Carolina, a village 30 miles north of Charleston that was devastated by a Category 4 hurricane in 1989.

The storm was blamed for at least 11 deaths in the United States - five in Florida, three in North Carolina and three in Georgia. More than 2 million households and businesses were without power, most in Florida and South Carolina.

The storm-stricken stretch of the Atlantic Coast from Miami to Charleston, a nearly 600-mile drive, encompasses some of the most well-known beaches, resorts and historical towns in the southeastern United States. Parts of Interstate 95, the main north-south thoroughfare on the East Coast, were closed due to flooding and fallen trees, state officials said.

Roads in Jackson Beach, Florida, were littered with debris, including chunks from an historic pier dislodged by the storm, and beachfront businesses suffered moderate damage.

Streets in downtown Charleston, known for its historic waterfront architecture, were flooded to the tops of tires on some parked cars.

The National Weather Service said record-high tides were recorded along the Savannah River at the South Carolina-Georgia border, peaking at 12.6 feet, surpassing those from Hurricane David in 1979. </s> Residents of the southeastern United States ravaged by Hurricane Matthew turned their focus on Monday toward recovery and clean-up, while Haiti started to bury some of its dead.

Officials in several US states warned that deadly flooding could continue as rain swollen rivers crest in coming days.

Matthew, the most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007, was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Sunday after its rampage through the Caribbean killed 1,000 people in Haiti. In the United States, the death toll rose to at least 19 people.

While power was being restored in some areas, 1.6 million people were without power in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Virginia, down Sunday’s peak of 2.2 million. Officials were working to clear streets of downed trees and abandoned vehicles.

With five people reported missing and rivers rising, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory said he expected the death toll to rise. Eight people in the state were known to have died so far.

McCrory said several swelling rivers were expected to hit record levels and would not crest for days.

“Hurricane Matthew is off the map, but it is still with us and it is still deadly,” he said.

The National Weather Service said “life-threatening flooding,” will continue Monday over eastern portions of the state.

Many coastal and inland communities remained under water, either from coastal storm surge or overrun rivers and creeks.

All 2,000 residents of Princeville, the oldest town in the United States incorporated by African Americans, were told on Sunday to evacuate due to flash flood risks. The town lies on the Tar River about 40 km (25 miles) north of Greenville.

Several dams have breached in the area around Cumberland County, south of Raleigh, Michael Martin, fire marshal for the city of Fayetteville, said by phone.

Swiftwater rescue teams are still on alert and there have been 255 water rescue calls and 701 people rescued.

In neighbouring South Carolina, a vehicle trying to cross a flooded roadway in Florence County was swept away by flood waters, killing one person, Governor Nikki Haley said.

Jake Williams, a resident of Florence, said on early Monday that his power had been out since Saturday morning.

“Trees are down in every neighbourhood on almost every road,” he said, adding “I am no weather man, but would guess that the gusts of wind were near 100 mph (160 km), and with soggy ground a lot trees couldn’t stand up to it.”

In Virginia Beach, the city said it had received over 33 cm (13 inches) of rain and 55,000 people remained without power on Sunday night. The city said that some 200 vehicles were abandoned and many roads remained impassable.

Norfolk, which declared a state of emergency, said efforts were under way to clear streets of debris and abandoned vehicles with city offices, libraries and recreational centres set to re-open Monday.

Haiti started burying some of its dead in mass graves in the wake of Hurricane

Matthew, a government official said on Sunday, as cholera spread in the devastated southwest and the death toll from the storm rose to 1,000 people.

Authorities had to start burying the dead in mass graves in Jeremie because the bodies were starting to decompose, said Kedner Frenel, the most senior central government official in the Grand’Anse region on Haiti’s western peninsula.

Frenel said there was great concern about cholera spreading, and that authorities were focused on getting water, food and medication to the thousands of people living in shelters. Cholera causes severe diarrhoea and can kill within hours if untreated. It is spread through contaminated water and has a short incubation period, which leads to rapid outbreaks.

The storm centre was about 320 km (200 miles) off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and heading away from land, according to the National Hurricane Center’s Sunday 9pm Irish time (5pm local time) report.

The storm still packed hurricane force winds as far as 150km (90 miles) from the centre and tropical-storm-force winds 390km (240 miles) away.

US president Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Georgia and Florida, freeing up federal money to help the states repair damaged infrastructure and remove debris.

Mr McCrory said 334 rescue workers risked their lives carrying out 877 rescues overnight. </s> CHARLESTON, S.C./SAVANNAH, Ga.—Hurricane Matthew slammed into South Carolina on Saturday, 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 slowly north to soak coastal Georgia and the Carolinas. Wind speeds had dropped by nearly half from their peak about a week ago to 75 miles per hour, reducing it to a Category 1 hurricane, the weakest on the Saffir-Simpson scale of 1 to 5.

Matthew, which topped out as a ferocious Category 5 storm more than a week ago, made landfall near McClellanville, a village 30 miles north of Charleston that was devastated by a Category 4 hurricane in 1989.

The National Hurricane Service said Matthew was over Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Saturday afternoon, and warned of potentially life-threatening flooding in Georgia and North Carolina even as the storm slowed as it plowed inland.

At least five deaths in Florida and three deaths in North Carolina were attributed to the storm. Two people were killed by falling trees in Georgia's Bulloch County, the county coroner said. The storm knocked out power to almost 1.6 million households and businesses in the U.S. Southeast.

The stretch of the Atlantic coast from Miami to Charleston, a nearly 600-mile drive, encompasses some of the most well-known beaches, resorts and historical towns in the southeastern United States. Parts of Interstate 95, the main north-south thoroughfare on the East Coast, were closed due to flooding and fallen trees, state officials said.

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.

Roads in Jackson Beach, Florida, were littered with wood, including sections of a historic pier, and foot-deep, water-clogged intersections. Beachfront businesses suffered moderate damage.

"We rode out the storm. It wasn't this bad at our house, but here there's a lot of damage," said Zowi Cuartas, 18, as he watched people pick up shattered signs near the beach. "We were prepared to lose our house."

Governor Rick Scott of Florida said more than 6,000 people stayed in shelters overnight, but he appeared relieved at a news conference on Saturday 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 Sunday evening. He did not comment on the death reports, which were confirmed by local officials.

Streets in downtown Charleston, known for its historic architecture, were flooding up to the tops of tires on some cars and a few residents waded near the city's sea wall as high tide approached.

Tony Williams, 54, who said he is homeless, rode his bicycle against huge wind gusts after spending the night in the garage of a bank. "I just got tired of laying where I was laying," he said.

On Daufuskie Island near the Georgia border, writer Roger Pinckney, 70, said he was fine on Saturday morning after refusing pleas from officials for residents of low-lying barrier islands to evacuate. "It blew like hell," he said.

Charleston officials said they were not aware of any deaths, injuries or significant structural damage. Winds and the threat of surges were expected to diminish through the day.

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 145 mph (233 kph) winds and torrential rain. Some 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said, after the storm hurled the sea onto coastal villages.

The U.S. military was deploying aid to Haiti by air and sea. Mesa Verde, a U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock ship, was due to arrive on Sunday with heavy-lift helicopters, bulldozers, fresh-water delivery vehicles and two operating rooms. Iwo Jima, a second Navy ship, was due to arrive on Oct. 13. The U.S. government was also airlifting emergency supplies, according to the United States Agency for International Development.

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.

Officials in Florida, which has been grappling with an outbreak of Zika, said they hoped the flooding would not worsen the spread of the mosquito-borne virus, which causes fever and birth deformities.

"We have got to get rid of standing water as quickly as we can," Governor Scott told reporters.

In North Carolina, where the hurricane was due to arrive on Saturday 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 15 inches (40 cm) of rain were expected to fall in some areas along with massive storm surges and high tides.

Further south, some 8 inches (20 cm) of rain fell in the Savannah, Georgia, area, downing trees and causing flooding.

The National Weather Service said record-high tides were recorded at the Savannah River at the South Carolina-Georgia border, peaking at 12.6 feet, surpassing those caused by Hurricane David in 1979.

Though gradually weakening, Matthew was forecast to remain a hurricane until it begins moving away on Sunday, the NHC said. </s> Hurricane Matthew continued its march along the Atlantic coast yesterday morning, lashing two of the American South’s most historic cities, flooding towns and gouging out roads. The storm was blamed for at least four deaths in Florida and knocked out power to more than one million homes and businesses as it made its way northward. In its long wake, it left well over 800 people dead in Haiti.

Yesterday, Matthew raked the Georgia and South Carolina coasts with torrential rain, staying just far enough offshore that coastal communities did not feel the force of its winds.

At 8am, Matthew was centred about 20 miles south-east of Charleston, its winds having dropped to 85mph, a Category 1 storm. That was down from 145mph when the storm roared into Haiti.

Matthew brought heavy rain and some of the highest tides on record along the South Carolina coast. Streets and intersections in historic Charleston were flooded.

At least one wind gust of 87mph was recorded at the Hilton Head, South Carolina.

The storm also lashed Savannah, Georgia, another historic town of moss-draped squares and antebellum mansions.

More than 150,000 electric customers in South Carolina were without power, and 250,000 were in the dark in coastal Georgia. Matthew was expected to near North Carolina’s southern coast last night.

“Now is the time we ask for prayer,” Governor Nikki Haley said, bowing her head.

Matthew – the most powerful hurricane to threaten the Atlantic Seaboard in more than a decade – set off alarms as it closed in on the US.

But in the end, it skirted Florida’s heavily populated Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area, and sideswiped the cities farther north, including Daytona Beach, Vero Beach, Cape Canaveral and Jacksonville, without its centre actually coming ashore.

From there, it scraped the Georgia coast, including the resort islands of St Simons and Tybee.

Resident Steve Todd defied orders to evacuate Tybee even after the mayor called and pleaded with him to leave. As conditions rapidly deteriorated on Friday night, Todd wasn’t sounding quite so bold.

“I’m not regretting staying,” Todd said by telephone. “But I’m not going to lie: there’s a little bit of nervous tension right now.”

Todd said he was staying with friends at a third-storey flat, which had lost electricity.

“It’s throwing down right now,” Todd said. “The trees are bending over. We saw a bush fly by. It’s raining sideways now.”

In Florida, the storm gouged out several large sections of the coastal A1A highway north of Daytona Beach. “It’s pretty bad; it’s jagged all over the place,” said Oliver Shields.

The deaths in Florida included an elderly St Lucie County couple who died from carbon monoxide fumes while running a generator in their garage and two women who were killed when trees fell on a home and a camper.

About 500,000 people were under evacuation orders in the Jacksonville area, along with another half-million on the Georgia coast. More than 300,000 fled their homes in South Carolina.

St Augustine, which is the nation’s oldest permanently occupied European settlement, was left awash in rain and grey seawater. </s> CHARLESTON, S.C. — A weakening Hurricane Matthew continued its march along the Atlantic coast early Saturday, lashing two of the South’s most historic cities, flooding towns and gouging out roads.

The storm was blamed for at least four deaths in Florida and knocked out power to more than 1 million homes and businesses as it made is way northward. In its long wake, it left well over 300 people dead in Haiti.

Early Saturday, Matthew raked the Georgia and South Carolina coasts with torrential rain, staying just far enough offshore that coastal communities did not feel the force of its winds.

At 8 a.m., Matthew was centred about 20 miles southeast of Charleston, its winds having dropped to 85 mph, a Category 1 storm. That was down from 145 mph when the storm roared into Haiti.

Matthew brought heavy rain and some of the highest tides on record along the South Carolina coast. Streets and intersections in historic Charleston were flooded.

At least one wind gust of 87 mph was recorded at Hilton Head, South Carolina.

The storm also lashed Savannah, Georgia, another historic town of moss-draped squares and antebellum mansions.

More than 150,000 electric customers in South Carolina were without power, and 250,000 were in the dark in coastal Georgia. Matthew was expected to near North Carolina’s southern coast by Saturday night.

“Now is the time we ask for prayer,” Gov. Nikki Haley said, bowing her head.

Matthew — the most powerful hurricane to threaten the Atlantic Seaboard in more than a decade — set off alarms as it closed in on the U.S.

But in the end, it skirted Florida’s heavily populated Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area, and sideswiped the cities farther north, including Daytona Beach, Vero Beach, Cape Canaveral and Jacksonville, without its centre ever actually coming ashore.

From there, it scraped the Georgia coast, including the resort islands of St. Simons and Tybee.

Steve Todd defied orders to evacuate Tybee even after the mayor called and pleaded with him to leave. As conditions rapidly deteriorated Friday night, Todd wasn’t sounding quite so bold.

“I’m not regretting staying,” Todd said by telephone. “But I’m not going to lie: There’s a little bit of nervous tension right now.”

Todd said he was staying with friends at a third-story condo, which had lost electricity.

“It’s throwing down right now,” Todd said. “The trees are bending over. We saw a bush fly by. It’s raining sideways now.”

In Florida, the storm gouged out several large sections of the coastal A1A highway north of Daytona Beach.

“It’s pretty bad; it’s jagged all over the place,” said Oliver Shields, whose two-story house is within sight of the highway.

The deaths in Florida included an elderly St. Lucie County couple who died from carbon monoxide fumes while running a generator in their garage and two women who were killed when trees fell on a home and a camper.

About 500,000 people were under evacuation orders in the Jacksonville area, along with another half-million on the Georgia coast. More than 300,000 fled their homes in South Carolina.

St. Augustine, which is the nation’s oldest permanently occupied European settlement and includes a 17th-century Spanish fortress and many historic homes turned into bed-and-breakfasts, was left awash in rain and grey seawater.

Associated Press writers Holbrook Mohr in Orlando, Florida; Gary Fineout in Tallahassee, Florida; Kelli Kennedy and Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Jennifer Kay, Freida Frisaro and Curt Anderson in Miami; Marcia Dunn in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Janelle Cogan in Orlando, Florida; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Martha Waggoner in Raleigh, North Carolina; Jeffrey Collins on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; Jack Jones and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina; and Bruce Smith in Charleston, South Carolina, contributed to this report. </s> Are you affected by Hurricane Matthew? If it is safe for you to do so, WhatsApp us on *+44 7435 939 154* to share your photos, experiences and video. Please tag #CNNiReport in your message.

(CNN) After battering Florida's east coast, a weakened Hurricane Matthew churned slowly north early Saturday, bringing dangerous storm surges and heavy rain to Georgia and South Carolina.

Matthew, which still packs 105 miles per hour winds, is expected to move into South Carolina Saturday morning and reach North Carolina by night.

Storm surges could reach from six to nine feet above high tide from Jacksonville, Florida, up through Charleston, South Carolina.

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.

Matthew also was blamed for the deaths of four people in Florida.

The dead included a woman in her 60s in Volusia County who was killed 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.

Matthew left more than 1 million people without power as it spent the day plowing north just off Florida's east coast. Water from the storm rushed through streets, making roadways look more like rivers, in parts of Jacksonville, Merritt Island, Fleming Island and other Florida communities.

Here's what you need to know:
• As of 2 a.m. ET, Matthew's center was over the Atlantic, about 45 miles south of Hilton Head, South Carolina and 95 miles south-southeast of Charleston, according to the National Hurricane Center. Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 60 miles from that center. It was moving north at 12 mph.
• A total of 1.2 million customers in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina are without power.
• Florida coped with the rising water, rain and strong winds as meteorologists said the storm surge had been measured at more than 4 feet in some areas.
• There was concern over 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.
• Gov. Nathan Deal has ordered evacuations for all counties east of Interstate 95. Deal has activated 2,000 National Guard troops.
• 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.
• Chatham County suspended its emergency medical response until further notice. It also remains under a curfew.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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)."
• 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. </s> (AP) — Gaining fury as it closed in, Hurricane Matthew steamed toward Florida with winds of 140 mph Thursday as 2 million people across the Southeast were warned to board up their homes and flee inland to escape the most powerful storm to threaten the Atlantic coast in more than a decade.

"The storm has already killed people. We should expect the same impact in Florida," Florida Gov. Rick Scott said as the skies began darkening from Matthew's outer bands of rain.

By late morning, the hurricane had grown from a possibly devastating Category 3 storm to a potentially catastrophic Category 4.

It roared over the Bahamas and was expected to scrape nearly the entire length of Florida's Atlantic coast beginning Thursday evening. From there, forecasters said, it could push its way just off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina before veering off to sea.

About 2 million people in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina were told to head for safety, and interstate highways were turned into one-way routes to enable them to get out quickly. Scott said Florida could be looking at its biggest evacuation ever.

Forecasters said the storm's fiercest winds appeared unlikely to strike Miami or Fort Lauderdale, the most densely populated areas in Florida, with about 4.4 million residents. Those cities were expected to get tropical storm-force winds of between 39 mph and 73 mph.

Instead, forecasters said the West Palm Beach and Cape Canaveral areas farther north could get the brunt of the storm.

The last Category 3 storm or higher to hit the U.S. was Wilma in October 2005. It sliced across Florida with 120 mph winds, killing five people and causing an estimated $21 billion in damage.

As people hurried for higher ground, authorities in South Carolina said a motorist died on Wednesday after being shot by deputies in a gun battle that erupted after he sped away from a checkpoint along a storm evacuation route.

Matthew killed at least 29 people in the Caribbean as it roared through Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas. Twenty-three of those deaths were in Haiti, where many towns were cut off by the storm and the full magnitude of the death and destruction was still unclear two days later.

In the Bahamas, authorities reported many downed trees and power lines but no immediate deaths.

As of 11 a.m. EDT, Matthew was 180 miles southeast of West Palm Beach, Florida, and moving toward the city at about 14 mph. Nearly all of Florida's Atlantic coast and Georgia's entire coast were under hurricane warnings.

With hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 60 miles from the storm's center, Matthew could wreak havoc along the coast even if it were to stay just offshore.

Forecasters said it could dump up to 15 inches of rain in some spots and cause a storm surge of 9 feet.

Daniel Myras, who has lived for 25 years in Daytona Beach, where he owns the Cruisin Cafe two blocks from the boardwalk, struggled to find enough plywood to board up his restaurant.

"We're not going to take any chances on this one," he said. "I have the feeling that this one is the one that makes Daytona realize that we need to get ready for storms. A lot of people here, they laugh, and say they've been through storms before and they're not worried. But I think this is the one that's going to give us a wake-up call."

Patients were transferred from two Florida waterfront hospitals and a nursing home near Daytona Beach to safer locations.

Major theme parks in inland Orlando remained open, but Walt Disney World and Universal Studios canceled Halloween events Thursday night.

The Fort Lauderdale Airport closed to all flights late in the morning.

Deborah Whyte walked her dogs at Jupiter Beach Park in the morning to check the surf.

"We boarded up our house and I boarded up my store" in Tequesta. "And we're just hunkering down and waiting for it," she said.

But others rushed to leave.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal ordered a mandatory evacuation of the entire Georgia coast, covering more than a half-million people. The Georgia coast hasn't seen a hurricane evacuation since 1999, when it narrowly escaped Hurricane Floyd.

On Tybee Island, home to Georgia's largest public beach, Loren Kook loaded up his pickup truck with suitcases and a computer and planned to drive to metro Atlanta.

"It seems like a lot of the longtime residents are staying," said Kook, who moved to the coast four years ago. "I've never sat through a Category Whatever. I'll watch it on TV." </s> CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Some of the South’s most historic cities faced the weakening but still powerful Hurricane Matthew as it plowed north along the Atlantic coast, flooding towns and gouging out roads in its path.

The storm killed at least four people in Florida and knocked out power to more than 1 million homes and businesses, even though its strongest winds stayed just offshore.

Matthew is forecast to move near or over the South Carolina coast Saturday morning, the National Hurricane Center reports. The Category 2 hurricane will near North Carolina’s southern coast by Saturday night, the center says.

“Now is the time we ask for prayer,” Gov. Nikki Haley said as she finished an update on storm preparations and bowed her head.

Matthew — the most powerful hurricane to threaten the Atlantic Seaboard in more than a decade — set off alarms as it closed in on the U.S., having left at least 300 people dead in Haiti.

In the end, it brushed the heavily populated areas of Florida and raked the Georgia coast, including some of the state’s islands such as St. Simons and Tybee.

Steve Todd defied orders to evacuate Tybee even after the mayor called and pleaded with him to leave. As conditions rapidly deteriorated Friday night, Todd wasn’t sounding quite so bold.

“I’m not regretting staying,” Todd said by phone. “But I’m not going to lie: There’s a little bit of nervous tension right now.”

Todd said he was staying with friends at a third-story condo, which had lost electricity.

“It’s throwing down right now,” Todd said. “The trees are bending over. We saw a bush fly by. It’s raining sideways now.”

In Florida, the storm gouged out several large sections of the coastal A1A highway north of Daytona Beach and had nearly completely washed out the northbound lane for about a mile at Flagler Beach.

“It’s pretty bad; it’s jagged all over the place,” said Oliver Shields, whose two-story house is within sight of the highway.

The deaths in Florida included an elderly St. Lucie County couple who died from carbon monoxide fumes while running a generator in their garage and two women who were killed in separate events when trees fell on a home and a camper.

About 500,000 people were under evacuation orders in the Jacksonville area, along with another half-million on the Georgia coast. More than 300,000 fled their homes in South Carolina. The latest forecast showed the storm could also scrape the North Carolina coast.

“We have been very fortunate that Matthew’s strongest winds have remained a short distance offshore of the Florida and Georgia coasts thus far, but this should not be a reason to let down our guard,” the Hurricane Center said in a forecast discussion.

St. Augustine, which is the nation’s oldest permanently occupied European settlement and includes a 17th-century Spanish fortress and many historic homes turned into bed-and-breakfasts, was awash in rain and gray seawater that authorities said could top 8 feet.

“It’s a really serious devastating situation,” Mayor Nancy Shaver said of the city of 14,000. “The flooding is just going to get higher and higher and higher.”

Historic downtown Charleston, usually bustling with tourists, was eerily quiet, with many stores and shops boarded up with plywood and protected by stacks of sandbags.

The city announced a midnight-to-6 a.m. curfew Saturday, about the time the coast was expected to take the brunt of the storm.

Matthew lashed Savannah, a city that was settled in 1733 and has a handsome historic district of moss-draped trees, brick and cobblestone streets, Greek Revival mansions and other 18th- and 19th-century homes.

Matthew was expected to bring winds of 50 to 60 mph that could snap branches from the burly live oaks and damage the historic homes. And 8 to 14 inches of rain could bring some street flooding. The extent of the damage wasn’t clear early Saturday.

A small crew of workers Thursday set out to button up the Owens-Thomas house, one of Savannah’s architectural gems. The 1819 Greek Revival mansion serves as a museum.

Sonja Wallen, a curator, said antique rugs and furniture were moved away from the home’s more than 40 windows, many of them still with their original glass. Windows were fitted with plywood and other coverings, while sandbags were stacked at the basement entrance.

“It’s basically a lot of little details — sandbags and duct tape around doorways where water can get in,” Wallen said. “It’s pretty much the same stuff you would do for any home.”

At 2 a.m. EDT, Matthew had sustained winds of 105 mph (165 kph), and was centered 45 miles (70 kilometers) south of Hilton Head, South Carolina. It was moving north about 12 mph (19 kph).

Airlines canceled at least 5,000 flights Wednesday through Saturday, including many in and out of Orlando, where all three of the resort city’s world-famous theme parks — Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld — closed because of the storm.

But things began getting back to normal, with flights resuming in Miami and other South Florida airports. And power companies in Florida promised that electricity would be almost fully restored by the end of the weekend.

In areas the storm had already passed, residents and officials began to assess the damage.

Robert Tyler had feared the storm surge would flood his street two blocks from the Cape Canaveral beach. Tree branches fell, he could hear transformers exploding overnight, and the windows seemed as if they were about to blow in, despite the plywood over them.

But in the morning, there wasn’t much water, his home didn’t appear to be damaged on first inspection, and his vehicles were unharmed.

“Overnight, it was scary as heck,” Tyler said. “That description of a freight train is pretty accurate.”

Mohr reported from Orlando, Florida; Gary Fineout in Tallahassee, Florida; Kelli Kennedy and Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Jennifer Kay, Freida Frisaro and Curt Anderson in Miami; Marcia Dunn in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Janelle Cogan in Orlando, Florida; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Martha Waggoner in Raleigh, North Carolina; Jeffrey Collins on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; Jack Jones and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina; and Bruce Smith in Charleston, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
Hurricane Matthew, responsible for killing 13 people and knocking out power to 2.2 million households and businesses in the Southeastern United States, is now a Category 1 hurricane (75 mph;120 km/h winds) approaching the North Carolina coast.