Swift-water rescues underway after Hurricane Matthew

Hundreds of heroic, swift-water rescues took place Monday in North and South Carolina while forecasters warned some swollen rivers in the Southeast won't crest for two weeks in the wake of Hurricane Matthew's devastation.

Even as the storm rolled well out to sea, more than 1 million people along the East Coast from North Carolina to Florida remained without power.

"Matthew is off the map in the ocean, but it's still right here for the people of North Carolina," Gov. Pat McCrory said Monday. “We have helicopter and swift-water rescues underway... We have people on their roofs as we speak."

Matthew is blamed for hundreds of deaths in Haiti and more than 20 in the U.S. On Monday, a 9-year-old Florida boy succumbed to apparent carbon monoxide poisoning from a gas generator in his home, Daytona Beach police said. Ten deaths had been reported in North Carolina, four in Florida, three each in South Carolina and Georgia and one in Virginia, authorities said.

In North Carolina, more than 1,400 rescues took place across the state in recent days, and a levee break stranded 1,500 Lumberton residents Monday in homes flooded with knee-deep water, McCrory said. Evacuations were underway as rivers continued to rise in eastern and central areas of the state, he said.

Areas hit by Hurricane Matthew brace for floods this week

"This is a disaster which has maxed out all of our resources and personnel," Lumberton Rescue and EMS said in a Facebook post. "Please stay away from our area (if) at all possible. Too many vehicles and too many sightseers. We are in a state of emergency."

Some rivers, bloated from a foot or more of rain, won't crest for two weeks, AccuWeather warned.

"We predicted this three days ago, and it's actually happening," McCrory said.

Hydrologist Mark Hamill of the Southeast River Forecast Center said flooding could continue for a couple weeks. Dozens of river and stream gauges remain in flood stage across the Carolinas and Virginia, and five locations in North Carolina were at all-time record highs, according to the National Weather Service.

The Lumber River at Lumberton shattered its previous record high by nearly 4 feet.

"There's still a lot of water on the ground, outside the rivers, trying to get back in," Hamill said.

Power remained out to more than 500,000 structures, saying that meant more than 1 million North Carolinians were enduring outages, McCrory said. South Carolina emergency management officials said almost 500,000 utility customers were without power Monday afternoon, and Florida and Georgia reported outages for about 160,000 customers each.

Matthew was downgraded on Sunday to a post-tropical cyclone. President Obama has signed disaster declarations, making federal funding available for debris removal and other urgent needs.

In Florida, emergency management officials warned that lingering river flooding was possible in Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Putnam, and Flagler counties in areas along the St. Johns River and its tributaries. But there was also some good news in southeast Florida: Indian River Citrus League growers said they expect only minor damage.

"There should be some minor dropping” of fruit in the estimated 35,000 acres of citrus in St. Lucie and Indian River counties, citrus league director Doug Bournique said. “That, we can deal with. We dodged a huge bullet.”

Gov. Rick Scott on Monday activated the Florida Disaster Fund to collect tax-deductible contributions to assist communities faced with arduous cleanup efforts after the storm. South Carolina has a similar donation fund, One SC Relief Fund.

Gov. Nikki Haley lifted Matthew evacuation orders in the final two counties Monday, although four islands remained closed off. However, the Edisto, Little Pee Dee, and Waccamaw rivers all were expected to crest later in the week, and nearby residents were urged to prepare to leave.

Haley flew over some of the state's flooded rivers Monday.

"There is a lot of damage, and a lot of first floors are gone," she said.

Hundreds of roads and dozes of bridges remained closed in the state. More than 2,000 people slept in shelters Sunday night, a number Haley said she expected to shrink Monday night.

"For some of you this is a frustrating time, and for some of you this is a time to count your blessings," Haley said. "We appreciate everybody's patience as we move forward."

Contributing: Doyle Rice, USA TODAY; Elliott Jones, Indian River (Fla.) Press Journal