3 dead in N.C. as Matthew’s coastal fury spreads inland

Three people died in eastern North Carolina Saturday as dangerous flooding and gusty winds from Hurricane Matthew spread inland after the ferocious storm pummeled South Carolina’s coast.

Flash flood watches were issued around the Carolinas, including for Mecklenburg County. Nearly 10,400 Duke Energy customers in the county were without power at about 6 p.m. About 1 million customers of all energy companies across the Carolinas were without power at one point in the late afternoon.

One person died in Sampson County near Fayetteville after a vehicle hydroplaned, and two people died in Bladen County when their car became submerged, Gov. Pat McCrory said at a press briefing on Saturday afternoon.

“I need to wake everyone up here,” McCrory said. “If you are driving from Raleigh east, we do not want you to be driving.”

In Fayetteville, 42 water rescues were performed by Saturday afternoon after more than 11 inches of rain had fallen since midnight, and the situation was “now critical and life threatening,” according to the city’s emergency management office. Streets were flooding faster than crews could block those roads, officials said.

By 4 p.m., the National Weather Service reported life-threatening conditions across Wake, Johnston and Wayne counties, including flash floods, dam breaks and crashing trees.

In Charlotte, firefighters rescued a person after a tree fell onto a home on Chiswick Court, off Rea Road in south Charlotte. The extent of the person’s injuries was unknown.

The storm made landfall near Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, southeast of McClellanville, S.C., with serious flooding unfolding, the National Hurricane Center reported. McClellanville is a small fishing town in Charleston County.

At 5 p.m., the most powerful hurricane to menace the U.S. in more than a decade was hugging the coast about 15 miles southwest of Cape Fear, packing winds of 75 mph and spreading torrential rains inland across the Carolinas.

The center of Matthew was expected to be near the southern N.C. coast Saturday night before the storm veers east into the sea.

Eastern N.C.

East of Interstate 95, eastern North Carolina can expect 10 to 15 inches of rain from the storm, McCrory said.

McCrory said he was concerned people would “let up their guard” because Matthew was downgraded to a Category 1 storm Saturday morning. But the prospect of life-threatening floods will continue throughout the day, he said.

“I cannot stress enough the intensity of this storm,” McCrory said.

By early Saturday afternoon, 9.92 inches of rain had fallen since midnight at Fayetteville Regional Airport. That included 5.36 inches in just 2 1/2 hours Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service reported.

Six people were pulled from the water when a small pier collapsed at a popular Beaufort waterfront restaurant in Carteret County, and part of the Oak Island Pier collapsed in Brunswick County, according to media reports.

The water level at the downtown Wilmington tide gauge broke the previous record set by Hurricane Hazel in 1954. The gauge was at 8.21 feet at 5 p.m. Saturday, breaking Hazel’s mark of 8.15 feet, the National Weather Service said.

Elsewhere on the coast, the state suspended ferry service on the Hatteras Inlet route after an 8 a.m. departure from Ocracoke to Hatteras. Ferries evacuated 1,362 people from Ocracoke.

The Charlotte area

With 2 to 4 inches of rain expected through late Saturday, Mecklenburg, Cabarrus and Union counties and the S.C. counties of York and Chester are under a flood watch until 6 a.m. Sunday. A wind advisory is in effect until 2 a.m. Sunday for the Charlotte area.

Sunday should be sunny with a high near 73. Mostly sunny skies are forecast through at least Saturday.

Charlotte Motor Speedway postponed Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 race to noon Sunday, followed by the Xfinity Series Drive for the Cure 300 that was originally scheduled for Friday night.

Pockets of heavy rain from Matthew began pivoting from east to west into the Charlotte metro area shortly after sunrise. Rain fell at a rate of about 1 inch per hour in the heavier bands. No flooding was reported.

By late Saturday morning, 24-hour rainfall in Mecklenburg County totaled 3.44 inches at Elon Homes in Ballantyne, 2.82 inches in downtown Matthews, 2.76 inches at the state Department of Transportation office on U.S. 74 at I-485 and 1.74 inches at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

The National Weather Service’s short-range computer models predicted the heavier rain would exit the Charlotte area, to the east, around 1 or 2 p.m.

On Saturday, the Community Blood Center of the Carolinas asked for the public’s help in restoring the blood supply in the Carolinas and throughout the region impacted by Hurricane Matthew. The storm canceled drives and hindered collection throughout the Southeast. Urgently needed were donors of both platelets and Type O whole blood, especially O-negative.

South Carolina

Matthew brought heavy rain and some of the highest tides on record along the S.C. coast.

Streets and intersections in historic Charleston were flooded. At least one wind gust of 87 mph was recorded at Hilton Head, S.C.

All of the South Carolina coast remained under a hurricane warning, with officials warning about storm surge. In Charleston, rainfall ranged between 5 and 10 inches, and a wind speed of 52 mph was recorded at the Charleston airport shortly after midnight. A high of 88 mph was recorded at Hilton Head airport.

“Now is the time we ask for prayer,” Gov. Nikki Haley said, bowing her head. Flooding and fallen trees closed parts of at least two interstates: I-95 was closed near Fayetteville, with 3 feet of water on the road. I-26 was closed in both directions near Camden due to downed trees.

A sheriff’s deputy reported that the Palmetto Bay Marina on Hilton Head Island “is gone,” according to the S.C Emergency Management Division

The S.C. Department of Transportation said numerous roads were flooded or blocked by downed trees in the Midlands and coastal areas.

A tidal gauge on Charleston Harbor reached a high of more than nine feet above the mean measurement. “That’s the third highest ever recorded,” said meteorologist Bob Bright at the National Weather Service office in Charleston. “(Hurricane) Hugo was three feet higher than what we had today.”

North Charleston police reported more than 100 streets flooded and water rescues under way.

At a 6 p.m. update, Haley said more than 833,000 people were without power in the state. Damage around the state included three dams that were breached.

She warned residents against walking or driving through standing water, which could contain chemicals or downed lines. Haley also warned against putting generators in garages.

Matthew, the most powerful hurricane to threaten the Atlantic Seaboard in more than a decade, killed hundreds of residents of Haiti before moving along the Florida coast Friday, where another four people died. Three others died in Georgia.

The storm also lashed Savannah, Ga., where residents were ordered to evacuate.

Staff Writers Ann Doss Helms and Celeste Smith, correspondent Steve Lyttle, The (Columbia) State and The Associated Press contributed.

This story was originally published October 8, 2016 at 8:59 AM with the headline "3 dead in N.C. as Matthew’s coastal fury spreads inland."