Hampton dries out after Matthew

Oct. 12--Hurricane Matthew, the storm that was never supposed to make it up the Atlantic Coast, battered Hampton Roads late Saturday.

The storm raked the Southeast coast and struck Virginia as a Category 1 Hurricane after devastating some areas of the Caribbean. As of Tuesday morning it had left more than two dozen people dead in the U.S., along with hundreds in Haiti.

Hampton reported one storm-related fatality -- Hampton Police said a man found dead in standing water on Sherry Dell Drive Sunday morning died of storm-related natural causes.

Residents were still dealing with the effects of the storm early this week.

The city got between 8 and 10 inches of rain over the weekend, according to data from the National Weather Service, and areas throughout the city were dealing with severe flooding, gale-force winds, downed trees and power lines starting Saturday afternoon.

A deluge of social media posts from Fox Hill to Wythe warned drivers of impassable roads and blocked off neighborhoods.

More than 18,000 households, almost a third of Dominion's customers in Hampton, were without power Sunday morning. By midday Tuesday, all but around 375 had been restored.

A Tuesday morning tally by the city put property damage from the storm at more than $2.15 million -- 51 structures, including a church, 18 apartment buildings and 29 single-family homes, were damaged by Matthew.

No homes were destroyed, but seven suffered major damage. There were clusters of damage in the Wythe, Newmarket Creek and Phoebus areas of the city, according to a map the city put out Tuesday.

Time lapse video by Instagram user Tiffany Lynn (@tlk13) appears to show Hurricane Matthew off the coast of Cocoa Beach, Florida. Oct. 6, 2016.

Time lapse video by Instagram user Tiffany Lynn (@tlk13) appears to show Hurricane Matthew off the coast of Cocoa Beach, Florida. Oct. 6, 2016.

Video recorded by Twitter user Amy DeLoach appears to show a power line explosion caused by Hurricane Matthew. Oct. 7, 2016.

Video recorded by Twitter user Amy DeLoach appears to show a power line explosion caused by Hurricane Matthew. Oct. 7, 2016.

More than half of the damaged buildings suffered water damage and some first-floor apartments in the city were deemed uninhabitable after severe flooding, according to city officials.

The city is asking anyone with damage to report the issue to the city's 311 call center to help them gather data, even if the home is covered by private insurance.

"It helps us know where problems occurred and it can also help identify homes that may qualify for home-elevation assistance," said Hampton spokeswoman Robin McCormick.

For anyone still dealing with storm debris, the city has said bulk trash pickup will continue on its regular schedule, so some may not see branches taken away until later this week.

Fort Monroe's Casemate Museum will be closed until Thursday due to power outages. Officials posted online that staff were continuing to monitor the mechanical systems but that all of the artifacts and exhibits were safe and secure.

Several events, including the Phoebus Fall Festival and the Five-Alarm Festival and Chili Cook-off, were canceled due to inclement weather. No make-up date has been scheduled for either of those.

Murphy can be reached by phone at 757-247-4760.

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