South Carolina Assesses Damage as Hurricane Matthew Pulls Away

Barry Kaufman
by Barry Kaufman
Last updated: 3:50 PM ET, Sat October 8, 2016

Photo via Facebook

After ravaging Florida's east coast, leaving 1 million without power and six dead, Hurricane Matthew made landfall at 11 a.m. Saturday morning in McClellanville, South Carolina. Landing as a category 1 hurricane, Matthew hammered the coastal areas of the state with 75 mph winds.

While the decreased power of the storm averted further damage, the placement of the tide along low-lying coastal areas such as Charleston and Hilton Head Island made them particularly susceptible to flooding.

Across social media, residents of Charleston began sharing images and video of the destruction:

Further down the coast in Hilton Head Island, several areas were flooded including many of the roads, but the majority of the damage seems to have been from wind.

Photo via Facebook

Here is a view inside Long Cove. All the roads are underwater and trees are down everywhere. It's going to be a while before this mess is cleaned up. It could of been worse. I'm grateful that everyone is safe.

Posted by Nicole Nicholas Hightower on Saturday, October 8, 2016

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley held a press conference at 10 a.m. Saturday to share what was known about the extent of the damage and to urge evacuees to stay away, saying, "We have a lot of trees down on primary and secondary roads. Until we can really get an analysis on that, the driving conditions are still not safe."


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