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Hurricane Matthew: The Latest Updates

The Category 1 storm made landfall in South Carolina after leaving hundreds of people dead in Haiti and a trail of devastation across the Caribbean.

A lifeguard patrols a the beach ahead of Hurricane Matthew on Thursday in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. John Bazemore / AP

Hurricane Matthew, now a Category 1 storm, made landfall Saturday morning on the coast of South Carolina after pummeling the Florida coastline, leaving nearly 1 million people without power and prompting mass evacuations from the Sunshine north to Georgia.

The storm devastated the Caribbean, leaving hundreds—by some estimates more than 800 people—dead in Haiti, and a trail of devastation across the region.

We’ll be tracking Matthew’s latest developments below.

Updates

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Matthew Makes Landfall

Hurricane Matthew made landfall southeast of McClellanville, South Carolina, as a Category 1 storm, the National Hurricane Center said.

From the center’s latest bulletin:

At 1100 AM EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Hurricane Matthew was located near latitude 33.0 North, longitude 79.4 West. Matthew is moving toward the northeast near 12 mph (19 km/h), and this motion is expected to continue today. On the forecast track, the center of Matthew will continue to move near or over the coast of South Carolina today, and be near the coast of southern North Carolina by tonight.

Maximum sustained winds are near 75 mph (120 km/h) with higher gusts. Although weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours, Matthew is expected to remain near hurricane strength while the center is near the coasts of South Carolina and North Carolina.

The center also warned of high storm surges, which are expected to reach 5 to 7 feet high between Charleston, South Carolina, and Cape Fear, North Carolina, as well as possible inland flooding.

Obama Signs North Carolina Emergency Declaration

The president, in his emergency declaration, ordered federal aid to supplement state, tribal, and local efforts in the state.

Here’s more from the statement:

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the counties of Alamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Chatham, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Davidson, Davie, Duplin, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Gates, Granville, Greene, Guilford, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Martin, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Orange, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Person, Pitt, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson, Rockingham, Sampson, Scotland, Stokes, Surry, Tyrrell, Vance, Wake, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wilson, and Yadkin.

Similar measures were taken in Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia.

The Devastation in Haiti

Images of the devastation in Haiti are emerging. Lives have been lost, towns destroyed, villages washed away, and some 300,000 people need help. The government says more than 300 people are dead, but by some local estimates that number could be as high as 800—and climbing.

MINUSTAH is the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti, and the images posted on its Flickr page are stunning.

The World Food Program (WFP) is providing relief to those affected, but the severity of the storm’s impact is posing challenges. Here’s more:

Damaged or impassable roads and destroyed bridges connecting Port-au-Prince with the hurricane-hit areas are posing a challenge. The most affected areas are Grand’Anse, South and south-east departments. The towns of Les Cayes, Port Salut and Jérémie suffered severe flooding.

“Because of the severity in the south, we expect that certain roads will be closed and we need to repair them immediately,”  Carolos Veloso, WFP’s acting director, said in a statement. “The second big challenge will be the access to populations in the mountains in the south. Normally access here is not easy, and with a hurricane the strength of Matthew it will become more difficult.”

One of the problems relief workers are likely to face is cholera. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said it is expecting a surge of cholera cases in Haiti following the storm. Even before Matthew, the country saw 28,500 cholera cases in 2016—an outbreak that began after the devastating earthquake in 2010.

That quake killed more than 200,000 people in Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country. The cholera outbreak, brought by UN peacekeepers, has killed 9,000 people since then; about 790,000 Haitians have been infected with the disease since 2010.

Nearly 1 Million People Without Power

Here’s the latest numbers from the Florida Public Service Commission:

The View From Jacksonville

We’re getting video of the rain and wind pounding Jacksonville:

The eye of the storm is now about 80 miles southeast of the city.

Nearly 600,000 people across Florida have lost power because of the storm.

The Birds Near the Eye of the Storm

Jeff Last, the warning coordination meteorologist, at the National Weather Service Office in Green Bay, Wisconsin, posted radar images of Matthew in which birds are seen inside the eye of the storm.

This is fascinating because the birds—the red bits in the radar image—actually choose to go to the eye because it’s the calmest part of the storm. Here’s more on that from Kenn Kaufman, Audubon’s field editor:    

The birds get into the end of the hurricane’s spiral and they move toward the eye of the hurricane. They may not necessarily do that in any organized way; more likely they’re out there in all this wild wind and when they chance into the calm of the eye they may make an effort to stay there and travel with it rather than fighting the winds again.

When the storm reaches land, some of them may start fighting the winds. Others may go with it and travel with the eye until the hurricane dissipates. The majority of seabirds, if they are not too weakened from having flown for so long without food, will probably find their way back to shore quickly. They have great powers of navigation.

'A Really Dangerous Hurricane'

President Obama, in a statement after being briefed on the storm, said: “I just want to emphasize to everybody that this is still a really dangerous hurricane.”

"The big concern at this point is storm surge," he said, adding:

Many of you will remember Hurricane Sandy (in 2012), where initially people thought this doesn't look as bad as we thought, and then suddenly you get a massive storm surge and a lot of people are severely affected. We're still on the front end of this hurricane, we're not on the backend. So we don't know how bad the damage could end up, we don't know how severe the storm surge could end up being. And we're not going to know for three, four, five days what the ultimate effects of this are."

Latest Alert

Here’s the 11 a.m. ET alert from the National Weather Service:

The Hurricane Warning has been extended northeastward to Surf City North Carolina. The Hurricane Warning from Sebastian Inlet to Cocoa Beach Florida has been changed to a Tropical Storm Warning. The Tropical Storm Warning south of Sebastian Inlet has been discontinued. The Tropical Storm Warning and Tropical Storm Watch along the west coast of Florida has been discontinued. A Tropical Storm Warning has been issued from north of Surf City to Duck, North Carolina, including the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds. A Hurricane Watch has been issued from Surf City to Cape Lookout North Carolina.

SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for... * Cocoa Beach to Surf City

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for... * North of Surf City to Cape Lookout

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for... * Sebastian Inlet to Cocoa Beach * North of Surf City to Duck * Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds

The Cost of Hurricane Damage

The folks at the Wall Street Journal have tabulated the 10 costliest hurricanes to have hit the U.S.

The paper, in an accompanying story, says pension plans and other bondholders could lose billions from the storm. Here’s more:

The costly combination from Matthew of hurricane-force winds, storm surges and heavy rainfall could result in big payout of bonds for hurricane damage. About $12 billion, or just over half the outstanding $22 billion in catastrophe bonds, have some exposure to Florida storms, according to insurance brokerage Aon Benfield.

Read the rest of the story here (there’s a paywall).

Matthew's 'Eyewall Brushing Against the Coast Near Daytona Beach'

Here’s the 10 a.m. ET update on the storm from the National Weather Service:

During the past hour, a private weather station near New Smyrna Beach reported sustained winds of 63 mph (102 km/h) and a gust to 84 mph (135 km/h). A wind gust to 71 mph (115 km/h) has recently been reported in Daytona Beach.

SUMMARY OF 1000 AM EDT...1400 UTC...INFORMATION

-----------------------------------------------

LOCATION...29.1N 80.5W

ABOUT 30 MI…50 KM ESE OF DAYTONA BEACH FLORIDA

ABOUT 50 MI...80 KM N OF CAPE CANAVERAL FLORIDA

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...120 MPH…195 KM/H

PRESENT MOVEMENT…NNW OR 330 DEGREES AT 14 MPH…22 KM/H

MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE…945 MB...27.91 INCHES

'I Would Leave Right Now'

Rick Knabb, the director of the National Hurricane Center, said “time has just about run out in Florida to evacuate. In fact, if you’re being told to hunker down and stay where you are, follow those … instructions. … However, there is still time left in places like Georgia and South Carolina where there have been evacuation orders in effect for sometime now, there is still time for you to get out.”

“If I was where you are now right now, in a location that is under an evacuation instruction, I would leave right now,” he said.

You can watch his remarks here:

The National Weather Service, in its latest update on the storm, said Matthew would bring strong winds, storm surges, heavy rain, and isolated tornadoes along the coast from Florida to North Carolina.

The Latest Advisory

Matthew is a weakened (Category 3), but still powerful storm (sustained winds of 120 miles per hour) as it moves toward the coast of Florida on Friday, the National Weather Service said at 5 a.m. ET.

“On the forecast track, the center of Matthew will be moving near or over the east coast of the Florida peninsula through tonight, and near or over the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina on Saturday,” the NWS said.

Matthew vs. Democracy?

Hurricane Matthew may have played a role in torpedoing the FARC peace deal by suppressing turnout in Colombia’s razor-thin referendum vote last week. Now it looks ready to disrupt with the U.S. general election.

Florida’s voter-registration deadline ends next Tuesday, but Governor Rick Scott says he wouldn’t extend the deadline on account of the storm. “Everybody has had a lot of time to register,” Scott told reporters Thursday night. That could be a major blow to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, which had requested the extension, as it seeks to capitalize on her momentum in recent state polls. Scott, a Republican, supports her opponent Donald Trump.

It’s a different story further north in South Carolina. The state’s Election Commission says prospective voters now have until midnight on Sunday to submit their registration applications online and can also submit applications by mail until Tuesday, according to The State.

Another tragic upward revision of the death toll in Haiti: local officials now say 339 people have died, according to Reuters. That number is likely to rise as emergency officials continue to reach the hardest-hit areas.

A Second Blow?

After hitting the Bahamas, Matthew is now en route to Florida’s eastern coast. But the latest projections suggest it could soon return.

The National Weather Service’s bureau in Charleston, South Carolina, just tweeted this forecast of Matthew’s path. It shows the storm curving further east into the Atlantic Ocean before veering back west towards where it already struck.

This doesn’t guarantee the storm will actually come back. Long-term forecasting for a hurricane’s path is an imprecise science at best, and even minor atmospheric fluctuations can alter its strength and course. But it’s a troubling image nonetheless.

Haiti Death Toll Rises Sharply

Local authorities say 264 people were killed. The number is sharply higher than the 108 cited by government officials earlier today. But the latest figures come from Sud province, which bore the brunt of the storm.

Separately, President Obama declared a state of emergency for South Carolina. He has done the same for Florida and Georgia, as well.

Matt Drudge's Bad Advice on Hurricane Matthew

Matt Drudge, the publisher of the Drudge Report, is a highly influential media voice based in Florida. That’s unfortunate, because he’s also at times a conspiracy nut. Take these tweets from Thursday afternoon:

Drudge has half a point here: There aren’t ground observations that fast. A NOAA aircraft currently exploring the storm has registered surface-level winds as high as 107 knots, or 123 miles per hour; the most recent message it sent from the storm's center put the surface winds at 95 knots, or about 110 miles per hour.

On the other hand, that doesn’t mean that this is part of a climate-change hoax perpetrated by the government. Just ask Governor Rick Scott, a man so implacably opposed to the idea that he banned state officials from referring to “climate change” and “global warming.” What is Scott saying about Matthew? "You need to leave now. Evacuate, evacuate, evacuate,” he said, adding that "no one should be taking a chance.”

If Matt Drudge wants to take a potentially deadly chance, of course, that’s his prerogative. Everyone else, Trump supporting “deplorable” or not, should probably ignore his counsel, though.

'Potentially Disastrous Impacts for Florida'

Hurricane Matthew is currently a Category 4 hurricane with sustained wind speeds of 140 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Weather Center said in its latest bulletin.

According to the agency, the storm’s eye will hit Freeport in the northwestern Bahamas on Thursday evening before advancing towards Florida’s east coast throughout Thursday night and Friday.

In addition to hurricane-force winds and strong rains, one of Matthew’s most dangerous effects will be high levels of storm surge along the coasts of three states.

Hurricane conditions will begin to affect Florida on Thursday evening, the agency warned.

Pregnant Women Seek Shelter in Florida Hospitals

Florida hospitals are preparing for an influx of pregnant women during Hurricane Matthew—and cautioning expectant mothers that they need to register ahead of time if they believe they’re eligible to seek shelter at the hospital, according to the ABC affiliate in Miami.

A crowded labor and delivery department is a common sight during massive storms. That’s in part because women who are late in their pregnancies or face other complications are advised to get to the hospital while they still can, given the potential for road closures and dangerous weather, but it’s also because there’s evidence of a link between low-pressure systems and the onset of labor.

I took a look back through the medical literature to see just how strong the correlation between bad weather and delivering babies really is.

Why It Matters That Waffle Houses on I-95 Are Closed

What can this seemingly innocuous, #brand-related tweet tell us about Hurricane Matthew? Quite a bit, as it happens:

Craig Fugate, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, uses Waffle House as a key metric in disaster-response efforts. As The Wall Street Journal explained in 2011:

Green means the restaurant is serving a full menu, a signal that damage in an area is limited and the lights are on. Yellow means a limited menu, indicating power from a generator, at best, and low food supplies. Red means the restaurant is closed, a sign of severe damage in the area or unsafe conditions.

"If you get there and the Waffle House is closed?" FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate has said. "That's really bad. That's where you go to work."

The scale has its limitations—Fugate was previously in charge of disaster response in Florida, but the chain is not ubiquitous throughout the United States. It is, however, common in hurricane-heavy regions. As Fugate told me last year, the point is not simply to know whether you can get an All-Star Breakfast. Instead, it’s a useful way to tell whether disaster managers are fixing the right problems:

Oftentimes if you do government-centered planning you forget about the private sector unless you need them to do something for you. We’re asking a different question: “What can we do to get you open?” Each level of government, they do things that they think intuitively are helpful to recovery, but may be counterproductive, like curfews. When you talk to big-box retailers, they do almost all their resupply at night. Yet, your curfews are generally at night. So you have this mismatch between law enforcement trying to keep an area secure at night and the private sector saying, “But that's when we try to do our resupply, when we try to do our repairs.”

Stay safe, Waffle Nation.

'Locations May Be Uninhabitable for Weeks or Months'

The National Weather Service’s bureau in Melbourne, Florida, has released a haunting bulletin on Matthew’s expected damage, describing it as “the strongest hurricane to affect this area in decades.”

DANGEROUS HURRICANE MATTHEW MOVING NORTHWESTWARD NORTH OF ANDROS ISLAND, IS FORECAST TO MOVE VERY NEAR AND OVER THE EAST CENTRAL COAST OF FLORIDA TONIGHT AND INTO FRIDAY.

EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, LIFE-THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST IN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. THE CENTER OF HURRICANE MATTHEW CONTAINING THE STRONGEST WIND GUSTS, STORM SURGE AND HEAVY RAIN SQUALLS WILL MOVE ALONG OR OVER PORTIONS OF THE EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA COASTLINE LATE TONIGHT INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS ON FRIDAY.

WIDESPREAD EXTENSIVE TO DEVASTATING WIND IMPACTS WILL BE FELT. AIRBORNE DEBRIS LOFTED BY EXTREME WINDS WILL BE CAPABLE OF BREACHING STRUCTURES, UNPROTECTED WINDOWS AND VEHICLES. EFFECTS SUCH AS THESE RANGING FROM THE COAST TO WELL INLAND HAVE NOT BEEN EXPERIENCED IN CENTRAL FLORIDA IN DECADES.

LOCAL CONDITIONS WILL EXCEED WHAT OCCURRED DURING THE HURRICANES OF 2004. ANY EVACUATIONS AND STRUCTURE PREPARATION SHOULD BE COMPLETED THIS AFTERNOON. TRAVEL WILL BE STRONGLY DISCOURAGED BEGINNING AT DUSK. EXPECT WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES.

The bulletin predicts devastation for eastern central Florida over the next 24 hours as Matthew strikes with hurricane-force winds, massive storm surges, and flooding rains.

- STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO STURDY BUILDINGS, SOME WITH COMPLETE ROOF AND WALL FAILURES. COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF MOBILE HOMES. DAMAGE GREATLY ACCENTUATED BY LARGE AIRBORNE PROJECTILES. LOCATIONS MAY BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS OR MONTHS.

- NUMEROUS LARGE TREES SNAPPED OR UPROOTED ALONG WITH FENCES AND ROADWAY SIGNS BLOWN OVER.

- MANY ROADS IMPASSABLE FROM LARGE DEBRIS, AND MORE WITHIN URBAN OR HEAVILY WOODED PLACES. MANY BRIDGES, CAUSEWAYS, AND ACCESS ROUTES IMPASSABLE.

- WIDESPREAD POWER AND COMMUNICATIONS OUTAGES.

Thursday’s bulletin strongly resembles the dire forecast given by the NWS’s New Orleans bureau ahead of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Its unusually stark descriptions, which warned that “most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks” and that water shortages would “make human suffering incredible by modern standards,” catalyzed a larger government response and changed how NWS officials warned the public about catastrophic storms.

Obama Declares a Federal Emergency

President Obama declared a state of emergency in Florida on Thursday afternoon, freeing up federal resources to assist local authorities as Matthew nears. From the White House:

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the counties of Baker, Brevard, Broward, Citrus, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Glades, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Indian River, Lake, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk, Putnam, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, and Volusia.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.  Emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding.

The Eye of the Storm

This gif from the National Hurricane Center shows the Matthew’s eye:

Haiti's Death Toll Grows

Haiti’s death toll has risen to at least 108, Interior Minister Francois Anick Joseph said at a Thursday afternoon press conference. Haitian officials added that more than 28,000 homes have been damaged so far, according to the Miami Herald’s Jacqueline Charles.

The Rising Death Toll in the Caribbean

Hurricane Matthew has killed at least 102 people in the Caribbean where it struck earlier this week, flattening homes and flooding streets in Cuba and Haiti, Reuters reported Thursday.

Haiti was hardest hit, with 98 of the deaths reported there. Many were killed by falling trees, flying debris, and overflowing rivers, Reuters said.

Florida Governor: 'No One Should Be Taking Any Chances'

About 1.5 million people are under evacuation orders in Florida, said Rick Scott, the state's governor, at a press conference Thursday morning. Scott said Hurricane Matthew is expected to reach Palm Beach County Thursday night, bringing between four and eight inches of rain, and generating strong rip currents.

"Do not surf. Do not go on the beach," Scott said. "No one should be on the beach doing anything."

He added: "No one should be taking any chances."

Scott said 2,500 members of the National Guard have been called to duty to assist in hurricane preparedness. More than 80 shelters have been set up throughout the state. All tolls on roadways have been suspended, he said. "There is no reason not to evacuate," Scott said.

The Storm's Deadly Trail

The storm is headed toward the Bahamas Thursday after leaving 10 people dead in Haiti, four in the Dominican Republic, and one in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Matthew was barreling about 60 miles southeast of Nassau with winds of up to 125 miles per hour. Here’s what the storm looks like:

Taken 14:10 pm... extreme. #hurricanematthew

A video posted by Jeanette Walker (@longislandgirlbahamas) on

In the U.S., the governors of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina have declared states of emergency. The National Hurricane Center says the storm will “move very close to the east coast of the Florida peninsula tonight through Friday night.”

“I cannot emphasize enough that everyone in our state must prepare now for a direct hit,” Florida Governor Rick Scott said. “Having a plan in place could mean the difference between life and death.”

But there are problems that may go beyond a direct hit. As my colleague Adrienne LaFrance reports this morning: “Hurricane Matthew could further complicate efforts to stop the spread of [Zika], which can cause grave outcomes—especially for developing fetuses whose mothers are infected.”

The Human Cost of Hurricane Matthew

At least 11 deaths have been blamed on the hurricane, the AP reported Tuesday night. Updated numbers are difficult to obtain, the AP said, because of downed phone communication in the hardest-hit areas of the Caribbean.

Matthew made landfall in southwestern Haiti just after 7 a.m. local time Tuesday, bringing sustained winds of 140 miles per hour and heavy rain. The hurricane reached Cuba’s eastern tip that night.

Five deaths were reported in Haiti, according to the AP. Four people died in the Dominican Republic, and on each in Colombia and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Matthew left a trail of destruction behind as it churned north toward the Bahamas Wednesday. Mike Theiss, a photographer for National Geographic, documented some of the damage in Cuba on Wednesday:

The storm flooded streets in Haiti, like this intersection in Les Cayes:

Andres Martinez Casares / AP

Obama: "This is a serious storm"

U.S. President Barack Obama said he has sent Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) workers to states along the southeastern coast of the country to prepare for Hurricane Matthew. FEMA workers will be in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Obama urged everyone in those states—and in the states surrounding the coast—to heed local law enforcement because of potential storm surge and high winds.

Here’s an excerpt from Obama’s statement:

I want to emphasize to the public:  This is a serious storm.  It has already hit Haiti with devastating effect.  It is now in the process of moving through the Bahamas.  Because it's not going to be hitting enough land, it is going to be building strength on its way to Florida.  We anticipate that by tomorrow morning it will already begin to have significant effect in Florida, and then has the potential to strengthen and move on up the coast during the course of the day.

So I want to make sure that everybody is paying attention to your local officials.  If there is an evacuation order in your community, you need to take it seriously.  We anticipate that not only is there still a chance that the core of the storm strikes Florida and some of the states further north, but even if you don’t get the full force of the hurricane, we are still going to be seeing tropical force winds, the potential for a storm surge, and all of that could have a devastating effect.

Haiti Delays Presidential Elections

Haiti planned to hold presidential elections on Sunday but it now looks as if those will be postponed because of Hurricane Matthew. Reports of just how bad the storm hit Haiti have been limited, because communication lines have been destroyed, and some communities were unreachable by aid workers. But U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at least 350,000 Haitians need immediate assistance.

The Miami Herald reported that Haiti’s current President, Leopold Berlanger, said: “The arrival of the hurricane has created delays ... like the deployment of materials by the Haitian National Police.”

The opposition candidate, Jude Celestin, agreed voting should be delayed, saying that “getting assistance to the population is more important than elections right now. It’s difficult to go ask people to go vote, given what we’re dealing with right now.”

This is the second time Haiti has delayed the presidential election. The first came in January, after protests of fraud in the first round of voting.

Florida and South Carolina Expect the Worst

Hurricane Matthew is expected to near Florida by Thursday afternoon. From there it’s predicted path takes it north along the East Coast to South Carolina. Already both states are preparing for a major storm, and Florida’s governor has recommended residents near the coast leave, and South Carolina’s governor has ordered the evacuation of several counties.

Florida’s Governor Rick Scott told residents along the coast who are able to leave Wednesday to go ahead and do so. Those who live near the barrier islands, or residents who live in mobile homes, were ordered to leave. People seemed to heed Scott’s warning, and The Miami Herald reported some gas stations had already run out of fuel, and some grocery stores out of water.

South Carolina’s Governor, Nikki Haley, said 315 buses would carry coastal residents of Charleston and Beaufort counties—about a quarter of a million people—100 miles inland on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, the evacuation of Georgetown and Horry counties would begin. The National Guard is helping.  

Cuba's Preperations

Cuba has historically prepared well for hurricanes. This was no different for Hurricane Matthew, which by most accounts left the island relatively unscathed. The storm skirted the southeast side of the island near the country’s second-largest city, Santiago de Cuba, and caused some flooding and mudslides near the coast.

To read Cuba’s state-run newspaper, Granma, it was as if there was no storm at all. The paper instead praised the country’s preparations as President Raúl Castro toured Cuba’s east coast, featuring sunny pictures of clean, dry streets. The independent Havana Times, however, reported that 35,000 people were still evacuated from the city of Baracoa, which endured heavy mudslides.

At the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, about 700 families were airlifted from the island before the hurricane hit.   

Haiti's Worst Humanitarian Crisis Since the 2010 Earthquake

Matthew was called the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, and the worst humanitarian crisis to hit Haiti since the devastation of the 2010 earthquake. Winds reached 140 miles per hour Tuesday as it whipped across Haiti, then struck Cuba. Hundreds of thousands of people evacuated. At least seven people died, including two people in Haiti, four in the Dominican Republic, and many more are badly injured.

It has been hard for emergency workers or aid groups to get a full count of the damage because the storm destroyed communication lines, and the extent of the wreckage is still settling. Particularly at risk are the people still living in shelters from the 2010 earthquake. The U.N. Secretary-General's Deputy Special Representative for Haiti, Mourad Wahba, told Reuters “much of the population” had been displaced, and already 10,000 were in shelters. The U.S. said it is sending 300 Marines to help.  

The Damage from Hurricane Matthew

Hurricane Matthew swept through Haiti on Tuesday, bringing the death toll of the powerful storm to seven.

The Category 4 hurricane made landfall in the early morning. Citizens of the impoverished country soon faced flash floods and mudslides. At least two people were killed in Haiti, while four have died in the Dominican Republic and one person died in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, CNN reports.

The storm has reached historic levels, according to one Colorado State University meteorologist:

Four U.S. States Declare Emergencies

More than 1 million people are expected to evacuate from South Carolina’s coastal areas on Wednesday as Matthew nears, state emergency officials said Tuesday. Governor Nikki Haley declared a state of emergency and urged residents to move at least 100 miles inland. Matthew is currently expected to hit hardest along the South Carolina coast on Friday night or Saturday morning.

Florida Governor Rick Scott and Georgia Governor Nathan Deal already issued emergency orders on Monday in anticipation of the storm’s arrival on Thursday. Further north, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory also made similar declarations for 66 counties. “With each subsequent forecast, the impacts to our state appear to be more substantial,” McCrory told reporters.

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