Hurricane Matthew downgraded to post-tropical cyclone

McCrory said one of the most recent deaths was in Johnson County, where a auto drove into flooded waters and was swept away.

Officials have raised the US death toll from Hurricane Matthew to 30, and half of them are in North Carolina. They heard her cries for help while riding on top of a Humvee, and when they couldn’t get her with a rope, a National Guard soldier swam to her, staying until a rescue boat arrived, Emergency Management Director Gordon Deno said.

About two years ago, Reed said, frozen water pipes broke during a cold winter, flooding the house and causing $90,000 in damage.

All but 1 of the 14 deaths have been vehicle-related.

During the next few hours, North Carolina is expected to witness heavy rains along with gusty winds which will result in flooding over many areas of the state.

The death toll in the USA climbed to at least 17 – almost half of them in North Carolina. Four deaths were reported in Florida and three occurred in Georgia. An eight-mile stretch was closed near Benson in Johnston County.

In Johnston County, officials are urging residents to conserve water due to water line breaks in the southeastern part of the county.

Robert Tyler had feared the storm surge would flood his street two blocks from the Cape Canaveral beach.

“It’s still packing the same hurricane-force winds and potential for flooding and is still as deadly as a hurricane”, she said. Seven people died in North Carolina; three were killed in Florida. But rains were ending in most of the area by midday Sunday. The governor said he has signed an expedited major disaster declaration that’s being sent to President Obama, so that the state can quickly receive federal assistance.

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Hurricane Matthew was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone Sunday morning but still had some risky fight left in it, dumping more than a foot of rain on North Carolina in a deluge that flooded homes and businesses as far as 100 miles inland. But they can’t predict whether dams and levees will bust from the stress of more than a foot of rain in some places. He says that’s a serious issue, especially if people are trapped.

The US deaths came after Matthew devastated parts of the Caribbean, killing more than 300 people in Haiti, said Paul Altidor, Haitian ambassador to the United States.

More than 2,000 people had to be rescued during and after the storm as water filled their homes and washed over streets, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.

Around 61 500 people were in shelters, officials said, after the storm lashed coastal villages in high surf. “Our National Guard troops, swift water rescue teams and helo-aquatic rescue teams are on the scene performing rescues as we speak”.

The National Weather Service in Charleston, S.C., said tide levels may reach or exceed those that occurred in October of past year when record rainfall led to major flooding and the deaths of nearly 20 people.

“I’m very upset about losing the end of the Oak Island Pier”, Cindy Brochure, the town’s mayor, said. His goal is to get most schools and businesses open on Monday, he said.

At least one wind gust of 61 miles per hour (98 kph) was recorded at Beaufort, South Carolina. Pat McCrory would only say it happened under “very hard circumstances”.

One victim was driving home when a tree fell on him, the governor said.

Four people are missing in Fayetteville in the floods.

Matthew has been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone as it continues what appears to be the last leg of its march up the East Coast.

The storm originally was expected to have a greater and more unsafe impact on the state. In the United States, 17 people died and more than 2 million US homes and business had lost power.

River flooding was happening in other places, too.

Brunswick County emergency officials say about 100 guests and workers had to be evacuated during Hurricane Matthew from a Comfort Inn motel in the North Carolina coastal town of Southport because the roof was at risk of collapsing.

Officials from Calabash said they were already seeing the strong winds, which, along with the saturated ground, was causing trees in the area to topple.

“We have had quite a bit of rain, storm surge, water inundation, so it’s been both a water and wind event for us”, Judge said.

In addition to the eight deaths in North Carolina, there were four in Florida and three each in Georgia and SC.

SC has recorded its first fatality related to Hurricane Matthew and its aftermath.

The town of Lumberton is located about 70 miles inland from North Carolina’s shoreline, but it’s one of the worst-hit areas by the storm.