After a weekend of whipping the southeastern US, hurricane Matthew lost steam and was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, according to the National Hurricane Center. Still, the post-tropical cyclone is still packing maximum sustained winds of 120 kph, which is still the same as a Category 1 hurricane.
This development does not make the storm system any less dangerous, meteorologists say.
In North Carolina, one thousand people have been rescued while 3,000 people are still in shelters, local officials said Sunday. The number is expected to rise while people remain trapped in their homes. Around 600,000 customers were still cut off from electricity over the weekend.
Matthew left a wake of destructive flooding in its trail in South Carolina and Florida, leaving hundreds of thousands of clients without electricity.
Florida governor Rick Scott told reporters that the damage was “unbelievable” but that he was glad the storm stayed largely off of Florida’s shores.
"If it had a direct impact hit, it would have been a lot worse for our families," Scott said.
However, forecasters expect Matthew to die off as it heads out into the Atlantic within the next 48 hours, easing fears of a loop back.
Matthew’s devastating force was most felt in the Caribbean, where the death toll reached anywhere from 300 to 800, according to varying estimates.
