A weakened Hurricane Matthew makes landfall in South Carolina

A hurricane that caused death and destruction in Haiti has for the most part spared the coastline of the southeastern United States. Hurricane Matthew, downgraded to a Category 1 storm Saturday morning, raked the Georgia and South Carolina coast overnight with heavy rain and strong winds, causing flooding and power outages, but its center and strongest gusts stayed offshore, just as it did earlier in the week in Florida. At 9 a.m. Saturday, Matthew’s winds had diminished to 75 mph, down from the 145 mph Category 4 winds that hit Haiti. The storm has been blamed for at least four deaths in the United States, but the death toll in Haiti continues to rise, with more than 300 deaths related to the storm. Hurricane Matthew now heads toward Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Wilmington, N.C., before it is projected to make a sharp right turn out into the Atlantic and become a tropical storm.

UPDATE (11:05 a.m.): The National Hurricane Center reports that Hurricane Matthew has made landfall just southeast of McClellanville, S.C. The NHC says a “serious inland flooding event” is taking place.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.