As Hurricane Matthew Arrives, Water Rescues Begin Near North Carolina Coast

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Carla Ortiz, who had just moved into an apartment after stints in a homeless shelter, was back in a shelter again as she sought protection from the possible floodwaters that Hurricane Matthew was expected to bring.

"I'm glad to be here," the 64-year-old Ortiz said Saturday at a Red Cross shelter near downtown Wilmington. "It's a safe place. It's clean. It's orderly. It's dry. Momma didn't raise no fools. I know when to come out of the rain. I hate being in the rain."

The inland flooding began in earnest Saturday afternoon, with Cumberland County reporting eight water rescues from homes and cars. The National Weather Service reported that 8.5 inches of rain had fallen in Fayetteville on already saturated ground over about 12 hours, beginning at midnight.

Ortiz said she got little sleep as she coped with arthritis and a condition that causes her legs to swell with fluid. She and a friend arrived Friday after hearing warnings of possible flooding.

Those frequent public warnings prompted four dozen people to gather at the shelter at Dorothy B. Johnson Elementary School. The homeless, elderly and some families with young children spent the night on folding cots in a hallway and gathered for meals at lunchroom tables.

More than 450 people had left their homes for shelters as of Saturday morning, Gov. Pat McCrory said, and he encouraged that everyone else in areas that might flood do the same.

"If you are in a low-lying area and you know you're in a low-lying area that's flooded with a lot less rain than that, it's time to get out of there and find someplace else to stay in higher areas of land and shelters because it will flood with that much rain," he said.

The National Weather Service issued a flood warning and a high wind warning with gusts of 50 mph to 60 mph for the southern Piedmont, Sandhills and southern coastal plain. The forecast called for 4 inches to 10 inches of rain with localized rainfall of 12 inches. River flooding is likely early next week, especially along the Cape Fear, Little, Black, Neuse and Tar rivers.

Shelters opened in coastal and eastern counties Friday and Saturday, and some allowed people to bring their pets. All ferries were canceled by Saturday afternoon.

A Duke Energy outage map showed that 70,000 customers were without power Saturday afternoon in areas of North Carolina affected by Hurricane Matthew. About 28,000 of the outages were inland in the Fayetteville with almost 15,000 in the Wilmington area along the coast.

As Matthew raked the coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, it didn't make landfall until Saturday, just southeast of the town of McClellanville, South Carolina. It was a Category 1 storm with winds of 75 mph.

Hurricane Matthew "did downgrade in the wind, but it upgraded into the volume of water," McCrory said. "And water can kill, along with continued high winds. ... We still have serious concerns on the beaches. But most of our concerns right now are inland, where we're going to have surges on the major rivers coming into North Carolina, which could cause some serious, serious damage."

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 toward the Bahamas, though as a much-weakened storm.

Bobby Robertson, 80, and his wife of 59 years, Shirley, 78, live in a beachfront home in Carolina Beach they feared could be crushed by hurricane winds and raging waves. Though they hoped to stay, their plans changed when the storm's track shifted west, and harsher conditions were forecast for North Carolina's southeast corner.

"We were hoping it wasn't going to be as bad as it was, but then it took a turn," Bobby Robertson said.