Florida Coast Braces as Deadly Hurricane Matthew Nears Shore

#Matthew Tweets

Hurricane Matthew began to make come ashore along the eastern coast of Florida late Thursday night as residents hunkered down or sought refuge from the high winds, heavy rains, and an expected storm surge of ocean water.

The intense storm is expected to be the most powerful storm to hit the state in more than a decade, and given its current track could prove the most expensive in history. Matthew already left a trail of damage in the Bahamas and devastated Haiti where latest reports indicate that close to 300 people, and possibly more, have been killed.

In an update posted at 11:00pm ET, the National Hurricane Center said the eye of an “extremely dangerous” Hurricane Matthew was moving “away from The Bahamas and toward the east coast of Florida.” Meanwhile, current radar footage showed the western edge of the Category 4 storm lashing the south-eastern edge of Florida, north of Miami.

Offering brief notes on the latest expectations for the Matthew, Weather.com provided the following estimates:

• Matthew may be a Category 4 or 5 hurricane before striking the Florida coast starting Thursday night.
• This will be the strongest Florida east coast strike since Hurricane Andrew.
• Matthew will bring destructive hurricane conditions to eastern Florida, the Georgia coast and coastal South Carolina.
• “Sandy-like” storm surge for parts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and flooding rain are also likely.
• Matthew will then meander off the Southeast coast well into next week.

And the Weather Channel’s live stream was also tracking developments:

Before making its imminent landfall on Florida, Hurricane Matthew on Thursday strengthened once again to a Category 4 storm, prompting widespread evacuations and fears over its devastating potential.

Since pummeling the Caribbean with sustained winds over 100 miles per hour, Matthew has “steadily intensified” and now threatens the eastern coast of the United States with estimated winds up to 135-140 mph, according to Wunderground meteorologist Jeff Masters.

Updates and images of the devastating storm are being shared on social media under the hashtag #Matthew.