Florida Faces "Biggest Evacuation Ever" As Hurricane Matthew Looms

Florida Faces "Biggest Evacuation Ever" As Hurricane Matthew Looms

by Tyler Durden

Oct 5, 2016 9:25 PM


Things in Florida just went to '11' as, following his declaration of a state of emergency, the governor warned the state could be facing its “biggest evacuation ever.”



As CBS local news reports,

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.

As The Weather Channel reports,

"I cannot emphasize enough that everyone in our state must prepare now for a direct hit," Gov. Rick Scott said in a Wednesday press conference. "If Matthew directly impacts Florida, there will be massive destruction that we haven’t seen in years. This is a deadly storm approaching our state."



The stern warnings came from everywhere – especially weather forecasters.



"Extremely dangerous and life-threatening wind is possible," wrote the National Weather Service's Melbourne office in a forecast discussion. "Failure to adequately shelter may result in serious injury, loss of life or immense human suffering."

There is even a chance that the deadly Hurricane could loop back and strike Florida twice...



Meanwhile, Hurricane Matthew has already claimed it's first casualty in South Carolina as a man apparently decided to lead police directing evacuation traffic on a wild chase and then open fire on them. According to CNN, officers were forced to return fire and wounded the man who's condition is unknown at this time.



* * *

As we detailed earlier, residents in the projected path of the deadly Hurricane Matthew have started preparing for the worst as east-coast governors from Florida all the way to North Carolina have all declared states of emergency. Efforts to prepare for the deadly storm have resulted in massive gas lines and empty store shelves as residents either get out of town or bulk up on supplies to ride out the storm.

Hurricane Matthew has battered the Caribbean over the past two days as a massive category 4 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph, claiming at least 17 lives in Haiti and Cuba. According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Matthew was downgraded to a category 3 storm early this morning with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph but meteorologists warned the hurricane was likely to strengthen again in the coming days.

Per Reuters, the U.N. has declared Hurricane Matthew the biggest natural disaster to strike Haiti since the devastating earthquake six years ago after it destroyed close to 1,000 homes and left up to 10,000 people in shelters.

Authorities said on Wednesday five people in Haiti were crushed by trees and six were swept away by swollen rivers.



"More than 1,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed by the flood waters and violent winds," said Ernst Ais, the mayor of the town of Cavaillon, near Les Cayes. He said a mother and three children died in floodwaters in his town.



Three men were killed in Leogane, near Port-au-Prince, when a coconut palm fell on their home, the mayor there said.



Mourad Wahba, the U.N. secretary-general's deputy special representative for Haiti, said much of the population had been displaced by Matthew and at least 10,000 were in shelter.



"Haiti is facing the largest humanitarian event witnessed since the earthquake six years ago," he said.

Per the NHC, the latest forecast calls for Hurricane Matthew to make landfall in Florida as a "Major Hurricane" with maximum sustained winds of at least 110 mph late Thursday evening or early Friday morning. The storm is then expected to turn toward the northeast following right along the eastern seaboard all the way to North Carolina.

Hurricane Matthew



Parts of Florida are expected to receive up to 10 inches of rain which can fluctuate substantially depending upon the ultimate path of the storm. Meanwhile, Barclays analyst, Jay Gelb, warned that Hurricane Matthew may be among the top five worst U.S. hurricanes in history and has the potential to “wipe out” about a quarter’s worth of earnings for re-insurers.



Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina has already closed schools and order evacuations of anyone within 100 miles of the coast as deadly winds and 5-7 foot storm surges are expected.



Meanwhile, gas lines have backed up all over the east coast as people prepare to get out of town or simply stock up on fuel for generators. Per NBC, gas stations across South Carolina are already running out of gas.

But that’s not been so easy for some on Hilton Head.



“We were at a station for 30 minutes and just as we pulled in they ran out of gas,” Montgomery said.



“We got in line and by the time we got up to the pump it was out of gas,” Orr said. “A lady came out to let everybody know that they was out of gas.”



And that’s a big concern for nearly everyone on the island.



“They should’ve been prepared for us,” Orr said. “They knew that it was coming so they should’ve had enough gas.”

And any station with remaining supplies are experiencing huge lines of antsy customers.





Apparently the situation became so severe in Mount Pleasant, SC that the police department had to remind residents that "a gas station running out of gas" wasn't a valid reason to call 911.



Traffic along the South Carolina hurricane evacuation route was at a standstill early this morning.



Meanwhile, home improvement stores and grocery stores are running out of vital supplies like plywood and water as some residents prepare to ride out the storm from home.