RALEIGH, N.C. _ Hurricane Matthew continues to blow as a post-tropical cyclone off the coast of North Carolina on Sunday morning, but the rain that caused severe flooding throughout the eastern part of the state has stopped.
The sun is returning to the state as the task of drying out and cleaning up after the storm begins.
Matthew was blamed for at least 7 deaths after as much as 16 inches of rain fell in parts of the state throughout Saturday. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses remain without electricity as the combination of sodden ground and gusty winds brought down countless trees.
"As the sun rises in North Carolina and the blue sky returns, our state is facing major destruction and sadly loss of life," Gov. Pat McCrory said at a press conference Sunday morning. "This storm is not over for North Carolina."
The Sandhills, which was still recovering from flooding rains from a week earlier, was among the hardest hit areas of the state. Nearly 15 inches of rain fell at Fayetteville Regional Airport, and numerous roads remain blocked by water or fallen trees.
There are have been 887 water rescues in the state � 562 in Cumberland County alone, McCrory said. "And they're going on as we speak right now."
Smaller creeks and rivers, including Crabtree Creek in Raleigh, have crested, but the larger rivers are still rising downstream. The Neuse River is expected to hit record levels at Smithfield and Goldsboro sometime Monday, and the North East Cape Fear River isn't expected to crest near Chinquapin until Wednesday.
"This is going to be a prolonged event," McCrory said. "Rocky Mount, Goldsboro, Kinston, Greenville � every town in between. We will have very serious issues."
More than 500,000 Duke Energy customers in North Carolina were still powerless by 9 a.m. Sunday, according to the company's website, including nearly 110,000 Wake County customers. Electric cooperatives reported about 200,000 outages as of 7 a.m. Sunday.
More than 4,200 people have sought refuge in the 83 storm shelters opened for the storm, McCrory said.
Flood warnings remain in effect in most eastern counties, including the Triangle.
A tropical storm warning remains up for the coast between Cape Fear and Duck. Dare County officials warn of soundside flooding from wind-driven water.
