Florida Residents Urged To Start Preparations For “Serious And Life Threatening” Hurricane Matthew

Earlier this morning Florida Governor, Rick Scott, issued an emergency advisory warning to Florida residents regarding the very powerful Hurricane Matthew that could reach Florida as early as Wednesday.  The storm is currently located just south of Jamaica where it is set to make landfall tomorrow morning.  As of right now, according to the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Matthew is a major category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 145 miles per hour making it one of the strongest hurricanes in the Atlantic basin in 10 years.   

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued a hurricane warning for Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba where the storm is expected to make landfall tomorrow morning.   

Haiti residents have been issued a severe flood warning as Hurricane Matthew is expected to dump as much as 40 inches of rain on parts of the island in a very short period of time.  NOAA also warns that the storm is bringing “the combination of a dangerous storm surge and large and destructive waves that could raise water levels by as much as 7 to 11 feet.” 

Meanwhile, the projected path of the storm currently calls for it to reach the eastern coast of Florida as early as Wednesday.  No evacuations have been ordered for Florida residents at this point though Governor Scott warned that this “catastrophic” storm could change paths very quickly resulting in evacuation orders to be issued on short notice. 

Earlier this morning Florida Governor, Rick Scott, issued the following emergency advisory warning to Florida residents:

“This is a serious and life threatening storm. I was just briefed on the developments of Hurricane Matthew as it moves through the Caribbean Sea. I also just spoke with county emergency management officials who are working in our local communities to ensure our state is prepared for the potential impacts of this major hurricane. This storm is catastrophic, and if it hits our state, we could see impacts that we have not seen in many years. Even though the storm’s projected path is just east of our state, no one should take this lightly. Storms change fast and Hurricane Matthew could hit Florida as early as Wednesday. At this time, there have been no evacuations ordered in Florida, but that could change quickly. Please stay alert and watch your local news and listen to your local officials for protective actions and emergency messages. I urge everyone to visit FLGetAPlan.com to get prepared before the weekend is over. Make sure to have three days of food and water, flashlights, batteries and a battery powered radio.”

As mentioned above, most computer models predict the center of the storm to bypass the east coast of Florida though meteorologists warn that models are much less accurate at predicting storm paths several days out.