Hurricane Matthew’s barreling up the East Coast is the No. 2 story of the Daily News’ Top 10 stories in 2016.

On Oct. 8-9, Matthew hit the North Carolina coast, leaving Beaufort and surrounding counties without power and facing high water levels and road closures.

N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency in 66 counties during the week leading up to the storm’s hit. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and others have since awarded billions of dollars in disaster relief and assistance along the Eastern Seaboard.

Hurricane Matthew was an unpredictable storm to track. Initial projections had it heading full force toward the Carolinas, then making a sharp turn back toward the Caribbean, which saw devastating effects, and finally trending more eastward before turning into the Atlantic Ocean.

Although Matthew did strengthen to a Category 5 storm, it tapered to a Category 1 storm as it passed over the Carolinas. Beaufort County residents saw 3-to-5-foot storm surges, wind gusts up to 60 mph and rainfall exceeding 10 inches in many areas. The Pamlico River crested at 5.18 feet the evening of Oct. 8, more than 8 inches above its flood stage.

Residents likened Matthew to Hurricane Floyd in 1999 with its historic levels of flooding, and before Matthew hit, prepared with 2011’s Hurricane Irene in mind.

To help residents displaced by flooding from Matthew, shelters were set up at P.S. Jones Middle School and Southside High School.

“Obviously the track of the storm didn’t turn as quickly as anticipated. It lingered a little longer,” county Manager Brian Alligood said at the time.

The flooding was not over once Matthew passed, however. In the weeks following the storm, floodwaters from farther inland drained back toward the coast, causing eastern North Carolina’s rivers to be inundated and land to flood once again.

A combination of wet conditions this past year and a final blow by Hurricane Matthew led to substantial crop losses in Beaufort and Hyde counties. The continued flooding hurt soybean crops, and farmers faced a 50-to-70-percent loss on cotton yields, according to Rod Gurganus, a Cooperative Extension agent.

Almost three months after Hurricane Matthew, the application period for disaster relief remains open. The deadline for FEMA assistance has been extended to Jan. 9.