Florida Governor: State Could Be Facing ‘Biggest Evacuation Ever’ With Hurricane Matthew
October 5, 2016 8:30 PM
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (CBSNewYork/AP) — People boarded up beach homes, schools closed and officials ordered large-scale evacuations along the East Coast on Wednesday as Hurricane Matthew tore through the Bahamas and took aim at Florida, where the governor warned the state could be facing its “biggest evacuation ever.â€
Gov. Rick Scott said he didn’t know how many people would be ordered to leave the coastline because it is left up to individual counties. So far, only Brevard and Martin counties have issued mandatory evacuation orders.
“When you look at this storm as it goes along the East Coast, we’re going to have to prepare every county, so it could be the biggest evacuation ever. Every county is focused on it though. We’ve been working on it even before today,†Scott said.
Scott said the state is preparing for the worst and hoping for the best, 1010 WINS’ Steve Kastenbaum reported.
Matthew was a dangerous and life-threatening Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 120 mph, and it was expected to be very near Florida’s Atlantic coast by Thursday evening. It could become the first major hurricane to blow ashore in the U.S. since Wilma slashed across Florida in 2005.
At least 11 deaths in the Caribbean have been blamed on the storm.
In South Carolina, traffic was bumper-to-bumper as people fled on Interstate 26, the main artery out of Charleston. Gasoline was hard to come by, with at least half a dozen stations along the coast out of fuel and long lines at others.
“We’re staying because we have to board the house up,†Buff Schwab said as she wheeled in a cooler filled with food she purchased the night before at a local supermarket.
Storm shutters were closed on a number of palatial homes overlooking Charleston’s Civil War-era Battery along the water. Carriage tours made their way down streets that were largely empty of traffic.
In Florida, theme parks such as Walt Disney World watched the storm closely and Sea World told customers to anticipate altered hours.
“If you’re able to go early, leave now,†Scott said.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Matthew — at one point a fierce Category 5 — will remain a powerful storm at least through Thursday night as it nears Florida. The Hurricane Center said fluctuation in intensity was expected as the storm crawls up the East Coast.
Forecasters said there was a danger of life-threatening storm surge inundation along Florida’s east coast, much of which was under a hurricane watch or warning.
“When a hurricane is forecast to take a track roughly parallel to a coastline, as Matthew is forecast to do from Florida through South Carolina, it becomes very difficult to specify impacts at any one location,†said senior hurricane specialist Lixion Avila.
October 5, 2016 8:30 PM
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (CBSNewYork/AP) — People boarded up beach homes, schools closed and officials ordered large-scale evacuations along the East Coast on Wednesday as Hurricane Matthew tore through the Bahamas and took aim at Florida, where the governor warned the state could be facing its “biggest evacuation ever.â€
Gov. Rick Scott said he didn’t know how many people would be ordered to leave the coastline because it is left up to individual counties. So far, only Brevard and Martin counties have issued mandatory evacuation orders.
“When you look at this storm as it goes along the East Coast, we’re going to have to prepare every county, so it could be the biggest evacuation ever. Every county is focused on it though. We’ve been working on it even before today,†Scott said.
Scott said the state is preparing for the worst and hoping for the best, 1010 WINS’ Steve Kastenbaum reported.
Matthew was a dangerous and life-threatening Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 120 mph, and it was expected to be very near Florida’s Atlantic coast by Thursday evening. It could become the first major hurricane to blow ashore in the U.S. since Wilma slashed across Florida in 2005.
At least 11 deaths in the Caribbean have been blamed on the storm.
In South Carolina, traffic was bumper-to-bumper as people fled on Interstate 26, the main artery out of Charleston. Gasoline was hard to come by, with at least half a dozen stations along the coast out of fuel and long lines at others.
“We’re staying because we have to board the house up,†Buff Schwab said as she wheeled in a cooler filled with food she purchased the night before at a local supermarket.
Storm shutters were closed on a number of palatial homes overlooking Charleston’s Civil War-era Battery along the water. Carriage tours made their way down streets that were largely empty of traffic.
In Florida, theme parks such as Walt Disney World watched the storm closely and Sea World told customers to anticipate altered hours.
“If you’re able to go early, leave now,†Scott said.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Matthew — at one point a fierce Category 5 — will remain a powerful storm at least through Thursday night as it nears Florida. The Hurricane Center said fluctuation in intensity was expected as the storm crawls up the East Coast.
Forecasters said there was a danger of life-threatening storm surge inundation along Florida’s east coast, much of which was under a hurricane watch or warning.
“When a hurricane is forecast to take a track roughly parallel to a coastline, as Matthew is forecast to do from Florida through South Carolina, it becomes very difficult to specify impacts at any one location,†said senior hurricane specialist Lixion Avila.
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