Hurricane Matthew: Six more deaths in US
Six people have died in Georgia and North Carolina after Hurricane Matthew tore across the southern US states.
Four deaths had previously been reported in Florida, while almost 900 people lost their lives when the storm battered Haiti.
North Carolina’s Governor, Pat McCrory said: “This is a very, very serious and deadly storm.”
In Fayetteville, the National Weather Service said 8.5 inches of rain had fallen in around 12 hours.
Heavy rainfall last week had already caused the ground to become saturated.
Two people were killed in Bulloch County, Georgia, by falling trees.
Barack Obama has declared emergencies in North and South Carolina, Florida and Georgia and ordered that federal aid be provided.
He has also spoken to the four states’ governors.
The storm has toppled trees and knocked out power to more than half a million people, while airlines have cancelled at least 4,500 flights.
The eye of the storm had remained offshore until it made landfall near the town of McClellanville in South Carolina.
It also hit Myrtle Beach in South Carolina and Wilmington, North Carolina.
There was flooding in the historic town of Savannah, Georgia, and in Charleston, South Carolina.
The storm’s winds, though, had dropped to around 75 mph, way below the 145mph recorded when it battered Haiti.
There, at least 13 people have died of cholera, possibly caused by flood waters mixing with sewage.
More than 60 others have contracted the disease, the head of the Haitian health ministry’s cholera programme said.
The US Navy’s USS Mesa Verde is due to arrive in Haiti on Sunday, with helicopters and bulldozers among its equipment.
The United States Agency for International Development said emergency supplies were being airlifted in.
Hurricane Matthew: Six more deaths in US
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