Hurricane Matthew Strengthens as It Heads Toward Florida
October 06 2016 - 8:20AM
Dow Jones News
Hurricane Matthew strengthened Thursday and forecasters say it
could further intensify as it heads toward Florida's Atlantic
coast.
The National Hurricane Center advised at 5 a.m. EDT that the
category 3 storm had winds near 125 miles an hour, up from 115
miles an hour Wednesday night.
It is moving northwest with the eye expected to pass near the
northwestern Bahamas early Thursday morning and Grand Bahama Island
late in the day. The storm is forecast to strengthen, possibly to a
category 4 hurricane, as it approaches Florida's coast Thursday
night through Friday night, the center said.
The center predicted heavy rain, strong winds and storm surges
along the U.S.'s southern East Coast. A hurricane warning, already
in effect for much of Florida's eastern coast, was extended
northward to Altamaha Sound, Ga., and a hurricane watch has been
extended northward to South Santee River, S.C.
At least 11 deaths have been blamed on the storm during its
weeklong march across the Caribbean, five of them in Haiti,
according to the Associated Press.
Southern U.S. states took no chances. Governors of Florida,
Georgia and the Carolinas declared states of emergency.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott ordered state offices to be closed on
Thursday and Friday in 26 counties and urged people in the path of
the storm to leave the coast as early as possible. "I encourage
everyone to prepare their homes, check on family and friends and
evacuate if in an evacuation zone," he said Wednesday. "This storm
is deadly and everyone has to take this seriously."
Florida residents for days have been stocking up on staples and
hurricane supplies, and many grocery and hardware stores have empty
shelves. By Wednesday evening, boats in many marinas were hauled
away and the windows of many buildings were covered with
plywood.
The Port of Miami closed its cargo-handling Pomtoc and South
Florida Container Terminals facilities to vessels and trucks on
Wednesday and the Miami city government shut down the tunnel
highway entrance to the port, according to statements released on
Twitter.
Mass evacuations of coastal communities in South Carolina were
set to continue, Gov. Nikki Haley said at a news conference
Wednesday morning. She closed government offices and canceled
schools across much of the state, and urged people leaving the
coast to drive at least 100 miles inland.
She ordered evacuations in the southern part of the South
Carolina coast to begin later Wednesday, and those along the
northern part of the state's coast to begin Thursday. About 250,000
people may have to relocate, she said.
U.S. airlines widened the lists of airports that might be
affected by the storm, while working to restore normal service in
the storm's aftermath in the Caribbean.
American Airlines Group Inc. said Wednesday it would halt all
flights from arriving at its Miami hub on Thursday, along with the
airports in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.
The company expected to have "limited departures" from the three
airports until about noon EDT on Thursday, after which flight
activity will cease, a spokesman said.
American later added the Orlando, Fla., airport to its list for
planned cancellations. The carrier said it would scrub all arrivals
and departures there after 5:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday, will operate
no Orlando flights Friday, and plans to resume limited service
Saturday morning.
Susan Carey and Paul Page contributed to this article.
Write to Cameron McWhirter at cameron.mcwhirter@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 06, 2016 08:05 ET (12:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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