Hurricane Matthew Cleanup Along the East Coast Begins
Matthew has lost all tropical characteristics as it pushes into the north Atlantic. After a 12-day journey from the Caribbean to the East Coast of the U.S., Matthew left a trail of destruction from Haiti to Virginia, and many places in between.
Matthew strengthened across the Caribbean earlier this month, and as it moved northward, brought catastrophic damage to Haiti and eastern Cuba as a Category 4 hurricane with winds up to 150 mph and a storm surge up to 15 feet. As Matthew moved through the Bahamas, with Nassau and Freeport taking the brunt of the storm with winds gusting over 100 mph, the Florida coastline experienced storm surge, heavy rain, and severe flooding.
Even though Matthew's most intense winds were just offshore, much of the Southeast U.S. experienced wind gusts of 70 to 95 mph. Trees were torn in half, power lines were brought down, and coastal communities were flooded with storm surge, especially in the coastal cities of Daytona Beach and St. Augustine, Fla.. Matthew continued up the Florida coastline into the Southeast U.S., before briefly making landfall southeast of McClellanville, S.C., this past Saturday morning. Matthew's closeness to the coastline devastated local beaches with battering waves and severe beach erosion.
In addition to the gusty winds, Matthew produced a dangerous storm surge that affected communities from eastern Florida northward to the coastal Carolinas. Savannah, Ga., received a storm surge on Friday night into Saturday morning that broke an 80-year old record. Charleston, S.C., experienced a storm surge of 6 feet, flooding the downtown area Saturday morning.
Matthew’s rainfall totals were nothing short of impressive, especially across the eastern Carolinas, where several locations picked up more than a foot. The highest rainfall totals in Florida were Jacksonville at 6.75 inches and Orlando at 7.89 inches. In Georgia, the highest rainfall totals were much higher than a foot of rain, with Savannah receiving a whopping 17.49 inches and Tybee Island receiving 8.35 inches. Just to the north, Beaufort, S.C. received 14 inches of rain while Charleston received 10 inches. On Saturday into Sunday, Matthew traveled northward as Fayetteville, N.C., received nearly 15 inches of rain and Virginia Beach and Norfolk, Va., received a foot of rain. Unfortunately, the excess run-off from these totals will keep river levels and flooding danger high throughout this upcoming week.
Matthew merged with a cold front on Sunday and will continue to move offshore. In its wake, a large area of high pressure will bring drier weather, cooler temperatures and sunshine for the Eastern U.S. As of today, there are no tropical threats in the Atlantic Ocean that pose a threat to the mainland, allowing that affected communities to clean up after Matthew.
Check back at WeatherBug.com often for the latest on any new tropical threats on the horizon.
