A fast-weakening Hurricane Matthew continued its march along the Atlantic coast Saturday, lashing two of the South's most historic cities and some of its most popular resort islands, flattening trees, swamping streets and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands, AP reported. The storm was blamed for at least four deaths in the U.S., all in Florida. In its long wake, it also left at least 470 dead in Haiti in one hard-hit district alone, according to officials, with other stricken areas still unreachable four days after the disaster struck. Matthew raked Georgia and South Carolina with torrential rain and stiff winds, and â€" for the first time in its run up the U.S. coastline â€" its storm center blew ashore, making landfall north of Charleston, near the town of McClellanville, where it caused serious flooding. Up until then, the center, or eye, mercifully stayed just far enough out at sea that coastal communities didn't feel the full force of Matthew's winds. As the storm passed one city after another, the reaction was relief that things were nowhere near as bad as many feared. "We are all blessed that Matthew stayed off our coast," Florida Gov. Rick Scott said. "We are blessed that we didn't have a direct hit." As of 11 a.m., Matthew â€" by some measures the most powerful hurricane to menace the U.S. in more than a decade â€" was just barely a hurricane, with winds of 75 mph. That was down from 145 mph when the storm roared into Haiti. Among the cities bracing for its effects later in the day were Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina. From there, the storm was expected to veer out to sea and loop back around through the Bahamas and toward Florida again, though as a barely noticeable wave. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory warned people not to let their guard down just because Matthew was losing steam.
