The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is warning that the major Category 4 Hurricane Matthew is bringing “life-threatening rain, wind and storm surge” to Haiti, Cuba and The Bahamas as it is set to make it’s first landfall later tonight. After weakening briefly overnight, Hurricane Matthew has recovered to full force carrying maximum sustained winds of 140 MPH and is currently moving directly north at 7 MPH. Meteorologist warn that the slow forward motion of the hurricane makes it a particularly dangerous storm as certain areas could be subject to sustained heavy wind and rain for up to 2 days.
NHC has warned that life-threatening flash floods and mudslides are likely in southern and northwestern Haiti, southwestern Dominican Republic, and eastern Cuba as the storm is expected to dump up to 40 inches of rain in certain areas.
Meanwhile, a dangerous storm surge of up to 11 feet is expected in parts of Haiti and Cuba while The Bahamas have been told for brace for an even bigger surge of up to 15 feet.
Both Florida and North Carolina have declared a state of emergency to ensure adequate resources are available to assist with evacuations, to the extent necessary. Though the worst of the storm is currently expected to miss Florida, Governor Rick Scott warned residents to “prepare for the worst and hope for the best” as the path of the storm can change very quickly.
I have declared a state of emergency in every Florida county due to the severity and magnitude of Hurricane Matthew.
— Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) October 3, 2016
To ensure the state is ready, this afternoon, Gov. McCrory declared a State of Emergency for 66 counties in central and eastern #NC.
— NC Governor’s Office (@GovOfficeNC) October 3, 2016
The latest forecast from the NHC predicts the devastating category 4 storm will hit western Haiti tonight then move over eastern Cuba tomorrow before delivering a direct hit to The Bahamas on Wednesday morning. At this point, the earliest the storm would be expected to make landfall in the U.S. would be late Thursday or early Friday morning.
While the strength of the storm is expected to diminish after moving over land, the NHC still assigns a roughly 20% chance of hurricane force winds hitting parts of Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina.
Meanwhile, the outer edges of the storm has already dropped a staggering amount of rain in Jamaica.
Unbelievable footage of #Kingston #Jamaica residents saving a police officer from being swept away. #HurricaneMatthew pic.twitter.com/4WQm5ea4Z3
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) October 3, 2016
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