Southeastern US preps for Matthew, upgraded to Category 4 hurricane

RALEIGH — Now listed as a Category 4 storm, Hurricane Matthew has killed at least 102 people, the death toll in struggling Haiti alone rising to 98, local officials told Reuters, as the storm headed northward on Thursday battering the Bahamas en route to Florida.North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory said in a Thursday morning press conference the state should remain prepared, but will likely miss the worst of Matthew. He was quick to say models could still change at a moment’s notice. An update from the national weather service at 11 a.m. Thursday said the storm is expected to turn away from N.C.’s coast. “My goal is to be over-prepared and underwhelmed,” said McCrory. The governor issued a state of emergency for 66 counties earlier in the week, freeing resources for responders and leading to the evacuation of UNC Wilmington. As the storm blew through the northwestern Bahamas on Thursday en route to Florida’s Atlantic coast, its winds increased to 140 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said.That upgraded it an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 hurricane and it was likely to remain so as it approached the United States, where it could either take direct aim at Florida or brush along the state’s coast through Friday night.The center extended its hurricane warning area farther north into South Carolina and more than 12 million U.S. residents were under hurricane watches and warnings. Roads in Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina were jammed and gas stations and food stores ran out of supplies as the storm approached, carrying with it strong storm surges, heavy rain and high winds.Matthew was 180 miles southeast of West Palm Beach at about 11 a.m., and 25 miles from Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, the hurricane center said.The damage could be “catastrophic” if the hurricane slammed directly into Florida, Gov. Rick Scott warned, urging some 1.5 million people in the state to heed evacuation orders.”If you’re reluctant to evacuate, just think about all the people who have been killed,” Scott said at a news conference on Thursday. “Time is running out. This is clearly either going to have a direct hit or come right along the coast and we’re going to have hurricane-force winds.”Scott, who activated several thousand National Guard troops to help deal with the storm, warned that millions of people were likely to be left without power.With an expected storm surge of up to 9 feet, he said people should stay away from beaches. “Do not go on the beach,” he said. “This will kill you.”The four U.S. states in the path of the hurricane declared states of emergency, a move empowering their governors to mobilize the National Guard.It was too soon to predict where in the United States Matthew was likely to do the most damage, the Hurricane Center said.Shelters in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina were opened for evacuees. Federal emergency response teams were coordinating with officials in all four states and stockpiling supplies.In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest encouraged residents in the path of the storm to heed warnings from local governments about evacuations and seeking shelter.CLOSED SCHOOLS, EVACUATED HOSPITALSSchools and airports across the region were closed Thursday and some hospitals were evacuated, according to local media. Hundreds of flights were canceled in and out of the Florida cities of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, industry website Flightaware.com said.Matthew was heading northwest at about 14 mph and was expected to continue on this track Thursday, turning north-northwest on Thursday night or early on Friday, the hurricane center said. The eye, or center, of the storm was moving between Andros Island and New Providence in the northwestern Bahamas on Thursday.In Nassau, which is on New Providence, it was raining steadily on Thursday morning and high winds were bucking palm trees. Minor damage to roofs was reported but there was no flooding yet or reports of injuries.On Tuesday and Wednesday Matthew, the strongest hurricane in the Caribbean since Felix struck Central America in 2007, had whipped Cuba and Haiti with 140 mph winds and torrential rain, pummeling towns and destroying livestock, crops and homes. The devastation in Haiti prompted authorities to postpone a presidential election.The last major hurricane, classified as a storm bearing sustained winds of more than 110 mph, to hit the United States was Hurricane Wilma in 2005.In Florida, fuel stations posted “out of gas” signs after cars waited in long lines to fill up.At a Subco gas station in Orlando, the central Florida city that is home to resorts including Walt Disney World, the gas pumps had run dry on Wednesday afternoon.”We were selling 800, 1,000 gallons of gas an hour. That’s huge,” said Nancy, who was working the counter on Thursday morning and declined to give her last name.The shop was a stopping off point for coastal residents seeking shelter inland from the coast. Among them was Jonas Sylvan, 44, of Melbourne, Fla., who planned to hole up in a hotel with his wife, two daughters and dog. “We’re just trying to get away from the coast,” he said. “It’s safer here.”In South Carolina, Tylisia Brooks, 44, who has lived on the barrier island of James Island near Charleston for six years, waited with her 8-year-old son and mother at a closed Walmart early Thursday for a school bus to take them to a hurricane shelter.”We’re from New York City,” she said. “We’ve never been through a storm like this where we had to evacuate. It’s very scary.”