Matthew named 10th most destructive hurricane

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - Hurricane Matthew is hitting the record books as one of the most damaging hurricanes to hit the United States, ranking as the tenth-most-destructive hurricane.

MOBILE USERS: Click here for photos from Matthew's aftermath.

The storm in late September and early October 2016, caused an estimated $10 billion in damage and was the deadliest hurricane since Hurricane Stan in 2005.

Matthew also set a record by reaching Category 5 intensity at the lowest latitude ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin, according to a report just released by the National Hurricane Center.

The 96-page report includes specific details of the storm's impact as it moved as a Category 5 hurricane along southwestern Haiti, extreme eastern Cuba and western Grand Bahama Island, and as a Category 1 hurricane along the central coast of South Carolina.

Matthew directly caused the deaths of 585 people, 500 of them in Haiti and four in South Carolina, the report states. The estimated intensity of the storm at landfall in South Carolina was over 86 miles per hour just south of McClellanville.

While Matthew's winds caused some structural damage to homes and businesses, most of the damage was minor compared to the damage associated with the storm surge and flooding caused by the excessive rainfall.

The storm surge in South Carolina at the highest levels was 3 to 5 feet above ground level.  At Oyster Landing near Georgetown, a peak water level was recorded at 4.69 feet above Mean Higher High Water, and in Charleston, the tide gauge measured a peak water level of 3.52 feet above MHHW.

While the heaviest rains were seen in North Carolina, with close to 19 inches in Evergreen, North Carolina, Edisto Island, South Carolina recorded 16.9 inches.

Because most of the hurricane's strongest circulation remained offshore, the report states only two weak tornadoes were reported – an EF0 in Horry County, when a waterspout moved onshore in North Myrtle Beach, and another EF0 tornado near Wayne County, North Carolina.

Most of the damage in South Carolina happened in Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester, Georgetown and Horry Counties, the report states.

At least 800,000 homes and businesses lost power.  But Colleton County saw significant damage as well.

On Edisto Beach, a National Weather Service survey team reported at least 70 beachfront homes were damaged along a 1.5 mile stretch of Palmetto Boulevard.  Sand up to five feet deep was pushed onshore, covering a stretch of Palmetto Boulevard near the beach.

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