Hurricane Matthew Surges Along Florida's East Coast

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Hurricane Matthew slammed into the east coast of Florida on Friday.

As of mid-morning, the area around Daytona Beach was facing the brunt of the Category 3 storm, with sustained winds of around 120 miles per hour.

Up to a foot or more of rain is possible, officials said.

The storm was expected to continue up the east coast of Florida and then Georgia and South Carolina before tracking back to the east and then making a looping U-turn back, a rare feature for hurricanes.

A storm surge warning remained in effect all the way into North Carolina.

It is the first Category 3 storm to hit the state since Wilma in 2005. Hundreds of thousands of customers are without power as of Friday morning.

Matthew largely skirted the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Palm Beach areas of over 6 million people and hugged closer to the coast farther north, menacing such communities as Vero Beach, Daytona Beach, Cape Canaveral, St. Augustine and Jacksonville.