JBLU JetBlue Airways Corporation

Hurricane Matthew churned its way toward the Bahamas and Florida Wednesday morning, as the U.S. Southeast braced for expected strong winds and surge-related flooding.

The National Hurricane Center advised at 8 a.m. ET Wednesday that the storm, currently with winds of up to 115 miles an hour, would likely move north near the Florida coast Friday and Saturday, veering slightly east off the Carolinas coast Sunday.

Current models have the storm then moving out into the Atlantic Monday, and not making landfall on the continental U.S. Earlier models predicted the storm would make landfall somewhere close to the South Carolina/North Carolina border.

The center predicted heavy rain, strong winds and storm surges along the southern U.S. East Coast. The storm weakened as it passed over Haiti, but could strengthen as it moves over the Bahamas, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The center advisory said it is too soon to predict what impact the storm may have on the rest of the East Coast but "at a minimum, dangerous beach and boating conditions are likely along much of the U.S. East Coast later this week and weekend."

Southern states are taking no chances. Governors of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas declared states of emergency.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley ordered evacuations Wednesday of coastal communities. She closed government offices and canceled schools across much of the state.

She urged people leaving the coast to drive at least 100 miles inland.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency in counties near or on the coast and ordered the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency to work with local and state officials "to ensure all precautions are taken to protect residents and minimize risks to property and roads."

U.S. airlines widened their lists of airports they fear might be affected by the storm, while working to restore normal service in the storm's aftermath in the Caribbean.

American Airline Group, Inc., the nation's top airline by traffic, added 15 cities in the Carolinas and Georgia where ticketed travelers can push back their travel for a few days without change fees or fare penalties. That is on top of eight cities in Florida and eight in the Caribbean, according to the carrier's travel advisory.

American as of late Tuesday already had canceled 48 flights for Wednesday, including 19 out of its Miami hub and 13 out of the Bahamas.

Low-fare Spirit Airlines Inc., which has a hub in Fort Lauderdale, said it canceled four daily flights to Jamaica and Haiti until Thursday and issued travel advisories for Fort Lauderdale and Orlando for Thursday and Friday. A spokesman said if the storm continues on its forecast path, "we anticipate multiple cancellations in both Fort Lauderdale and Orlando."

JetBlue Airways Corp. added travel advisories for eight cities from Florida to North Carolina, offering customers booked to fly from now until Sunday the chance to change plans and move travel back a week or so.

United Continental Holdings Inc., and Delta Air Lines Inc. also expanded their fee-waiver cities to include airports in the Carolinas and coastal Georgia.

FlightAware.com, a flight tracking service, early Wednesday was showing 92 flights canceled in the U.S. alone, out of 320 world-wide. Hardest hit by the hurricane appeared to be American, JetBlue, U.S. regional carrier Republic Airways, Delta and Cubana, the Cuban flag carrier.

Write to Cameron McWhirter at cameron.mcwhirter@wsj.com and Susan Carey at susan.carey@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 05, 2016 09:15 ET (13:15 GMT)

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