A weakening but still powerful Hurricane Matthew barreled north along the East Coast early Saturday and is expected to flood some of the South’s most historic cities.

Matthew was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane on Saturday morning as it hovered around 30 miles southeast of Charleston, S.C., having already killed at least four people in Florida and left more than 1 million homes and businesses without electricity. The winds dropped to 75 mph, down from a recorded 145 mph at the height of the hurricane’s severity when it ripped across Haiti, killing hundreds. The cities of Mrtyle Beach and Wilmington, S.C. were bracing for the arrival of the storm on Saturday, as it made its way up the southeast coast of the U.S…[+]