Hurricane Matthew packed a deadly punch as it slammed into the southeast on Saturday.
Two people were killed by falling trees in Georgia as the storm roared up the East Coast. By late Saturday, Matthew had killed 10 Americans and left almost 1.6 million people without power.
The giant storm was expected to bring massive flooding from rains and storm surges as it hit the Carolinas despite being downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane.
At its height, Matthew was a raging Category 5 hurricane with winds of 140 mph. Earlier last week, Matthew killed nearly 900 people as it ravaged Haiti, Reuters reports.
Besides the Georgia deaths reported Saturday, the storm killed five people in Florida and three in North Carolina.
The weakening storm was still forecast to unleash eight to 12 inches of rain, winds up to 75 mph, “life-threatening” flooding and the possibility of tornadoes to southeastern states before turning out to sea, according to meteorologists.
At one time, meteorologists feared a second storm developing out in the Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane Nicole, would join forces with Matthew, but it is also weakening and is not expected to reach land.
New Yorkers are enduring a rainy weekend — but not because of Matthew, according to AccuWeather forecasters. Instead, the city is getting hit by a separate storm system.
Matthew was expected to steer well south of New York City, New Jersey and Long Island.
“It is very safe to say there’ll be no impact on New York City,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Tom Kines.
Hurricane Matthew was expected to turn east into the Atlantic Ocean late Saturday night, according to Kines. “Once it reaches the North Carolina area it’s heading out to sea,” he said.
About two million Americans had been warned to evacuate across the Southeast as the storm made its deadly march across the Caribbean.
Haiti now has 60,000 people left homeless by the hurricane and has seen outbreaks of cholera.