The U.S. Coast Guard has shut ports across Florida, and Charleston and Georgetown ports in SC are closed Friday and Saturday in preparation of hurricane conditions.
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Hurricane Matthew hits Florida on October 7, 2016 causing major destruction. At least 300 people died in Haiti, according to Paul Altidor, Haitian ambassador to the United States. Others report much higher deaths. One 50-year-old Florida woman is the first casualty of Hurricane Matthew in the US today. Matthew also spared South Florida, staying about 100 miles away from the Miami and Fort Lauderdale areas. The eyewall could potentially bring “a rapid onset of very destructive winds well above hurricane force!”
The powerful storm had for days hovered menacingly off the East Coast as a Category 3, then 2 event.
Storm surge in the low-lying coastal regions of Georgia and SC is expected to be life-threatening.
Savannah is under a flash flood warning and a tornado watch.
“This is the last time you will hear my voice asking you to evacuate”, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley told residents.
Storm surge flooding: Storm surge – which is ocean water pushed inland by the hurricane – could be as high as 6 to 9 feet along portions of the Georgia and SC coasts.
At least three towns reported dozens of fatalities, including the inland community of Chantal, whose deputy mayor said 90 people perished, without giving details.
Thousands of homes have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people have been displaced. “We can’t help the people, there’s no food”.
More than 150,000 electric customers in SC, mostly in Beaufort and the Charleston area, were without power Saturday morning, according to Fox News. While Matthew is expected to remain near hurricane strength while the center is near the North Carolina coast, the system could become a post-tropical cyclone later tonight or on Sunday.
Obama warned that like Hurricane Sandy, most damage will likely occur from the ensuing storm surge, or rising ocean levels. In many areas it is still not safe for them to be in the field, but as soon as they can begin assessing the damage they will do so and begin reporting what they find.
Volusia County emergency management director Jim Judge says a tree fell on a woman’s house in the county, which includes the city of Daytona Beach.
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Some 1.5 million people are under evacuation orders in Florida in preparation for Hurricane Matthew.
