Millions flee as Southeast U.S. braces for Hurricane Matthew

[techbeck]

The fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade slammed into the Bahamas early on Thursday, intensifying as it barreled toward the southeast U.S. coast where millions of residents heeded warnings to flee inland.

 

Roadways in Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina were jammed and gas stations and food stores ran out of supplies as Hurricane Matthew approached, packing storm surges, heavy rain and sustained winds that accelerated overnight to around 125 miles (205 km) per hour.

 

Matthew, which killed at least 26 people and damaged swathes of homes in southern Haiti, was predicted to strengthen from a Category 3 to 4 storm en route to eastern Florida.

 

Landfall was expected there on Thursday night, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, extending its hurricane warning area further north into Georgia in a 6 a.m. EST advisory.

 

"Everyone in our state must prepare now for a direct hit," Florida Governor Scott told a news conference in Tallahassee on Wednesday. "If Matthew directly impacts Florida, the destruction could be catastrophic and you need to be prepared."

 

The four states in the path of the hurricane, tracked 255 miles (410 km) southeast of West Palm Beach, declared states of emergency enabling their governors to mobilize the National Guard.

 

Shelters in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina opened their doors after authorities, along with President Barack Obama, urged locals to evacuate their homes.

 

Federal emergency response teams were coordinating with officials in all four states and stockpiling supplies, Obama said.

 

More....

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-storm-matthew-idUSKCN1250G2

[jnelsoninjax]

Yeah allot of people around here are panicking, and were in Jacksonville over 30 miles from the beach (yes we do have a few beaches, but this city is huge!) . Now the beach area and the downtown areas are being evacuated, but the worst that is expected to hit us is rain and wind.

[ATLien_0]

Looking like a brutal storm, hopefully everyone is taking the warnings seriously and getting out. 

[techbeck]

Two office of the company I work for closed/shut down early.   lvl 4 and 140mph wides last time I checked.  Feel bad for Haiti.

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

9 hours ago, jnelsoninjax said:

Yeah allot of people around here are panicking, and were in Jacksonville over 30 miles from the beach (yes we do have a few beaches, but this city is huge!) . Now the beach area and the downtown areas are being evacuated, but the worst that is expected to hit us is rain and wind.

Stay safe and hunker down as they say.

[DocM]

Definitely a dangerous storm, worthy of evacuating & picking up the pieces later. Stuff can be repaired or replaced, people not so much.

[Torolol]

And most insurances are more lenient when reimbursing the damages from well known natural disaster.

[DocM]

KSC dodged a bullet. Maybe it'll turn East and spare JAX

 

 

[anthdci]

Hurricane Nicole is out in the Atlantic too which will likely have an effect on Matthews path. I am so glad we don't get storms like this in the UK.

[DocM]

Hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, supercell storms & tornadoes, blizzards, Alberta clippers, noreasters, and derichos (aka Green Storms in the Great Lakes). Never a flipping dull moment.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

 

 

[Bryan R.]

The storm passed us last night with it's peak being at 1:00am. We lucked out, the storm did a little jog to the east and spared us (Palm Beach County) some of the worse winds. Our power stayed on all through the night as did the rest of my family's, in the Treasure Coast and Orlando. Our internet (Comcast) cut out during the night. Likely one of the hubs lost power.

 

I don't want to speak for everyone being affected by Matthew but the news is a bit dramatic. The storm surge is the most deadly part of a hurricane. It's dangerous in the coastal areas. As soon as you get inland, all you have to worry about is wind and debris. Florida homes are built for this - reinforced concrete walls and shutters. Everyone from the rest of the country is like "omg aren't you evacuating?!" - nope, not unless Lake Okeechobee gives way.

[DocM]

Now you know why KSC builds new launch pads on 10 meter artificial hills.

[Torolol]

So lacks of empathy ...

 

[DocM]

Despicable...

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Surely one of the political threads could have been used?

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

Quote

Hurricane Matthew

Did they finally run out of female names?

[Draggendrop Veteran]

15 minutes ago, Mirumir said:

Did they finally run out of female names?

Quote

In 1978, meteorologists watching storms in the eastern North Pacific began using men's names for half of the storms. Meteorologists for the Atlantic ocean began using men's names in 1979. For each year, a list of 21 names, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet was developed and arranged in alphabetical order (names beginning with the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z were not used). The first tropical storm of the year was given the name beginning with the letter "A", the second with the letter "B" and so on through the alphabet. During even-numbered years, men's names were given to the odd-numbered storms and during odd-numbered years, women's names were given to odd-numbered storms (see the table above for recent name lists). 

attached link has past/present and future name allocations.

http://geology.com/hurricanes/hurricane-names.shtml

[Bryan R.]

7 hours ago, Mirumir said:

Did they finally run out of female names?

Hurricane Andrew is pretty firmly imprinted in my mind.

[techbeck]

Matthew leaves 16 dead in US; 7 killed in North Carolina amid severe flooding

 

As North Carolina reeled from Matthew's devastating flooding, officials announced Sunday that the storm killed at least seven people in the state, and 16 overall in the U.S.

 

Dozens of people -- including a woman and her small child -- had to be rescued from their cars as life-threatening flash floods surprised many in North Carolina. Rivers and creeks overflowed, driving people from their homes.

 

The unofficial rainfall totals were staggering: 18 inches in Wilmington, 14 inches in Fayetteville and 8 inches in Raleigh. "This is a very, very serious and deadly storm," Gov. Pat McCrory said.

 

More...

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/10/09/matthew-leaves-16-dead-in-us-7-killed-in-north-carolina-amid-severe-flooding.html

[FloatingFatMan]

How can flash floods have surprised anyone? Do they not watch the news, or read the papers, or like, look out the window!?!?

 

"Gee look! That's one mighty big storm out there! Let's go for a drive in our car on this road which has a history of flooding!"

 

[wakjak]

2 hours ago, FloatingFatMan said:

How can flash floods have surprised anyone? Do they not watch the news, or read the papers, or like, look out the window!?!?

 

"Gee look! That's one mighty big storm out there! Let's go for a drive in our car on this road which has a history of flooding!"

 

Yep people are idiots. We just had major flooding in the east coast of Canada 200+mm of rain and there's video on facebook of cars driving in the flooded streets with water up to the windscreen. 

[+Zagadka Subscriber²]

2 hours ago, FloatingFatMan said:

How can flash floods have surprised anyone? Do they not watch the news, or read the papers, or like, look out the window!?!?

This isn't pertinent to the hurricane, people should have enough sense to be prepared, but out here in the more arid and desert regions, a flash flood is just that... you can't expect them or see them coming. They just hit you. It doesn't even need to be raining where you are.

 

From what I've read, there are still rivers in the SE that are overflooding post-hurricane because water from the tributaries is still surging. That can cause unexpected and rapid flooding.

[FloatingFatMan]

14 minutes ago, Zagadka said:

This isn't pertinent to the hurricane, people should have enough sense to be prepared, but out here in the more arid and desert regions, a flash flood is just that... you can't expect them or see them coming. They just hit you. It doesn't even need to be raining where you are.

 

From what I've read, there are still rivers in the SE that are overflooding post-hurricane because water from the tributaries is still surging. That can cause unexpected and rapid flooding.

And you can bet those flash floods have happened before, as that's what dry river beds and rivers DO when there's a crapton of rain in associated areas.  I could understand if you're a stranger to the area, but these people are almost always locals and should know better!

[DocM]

10 hours ago, FloatingFatMan said:

How can flash floods have surprised anyone? Do they not watch the news, or read the papers, or like, look out the window!?!?

 

"Gee look! That's one mighty big storm out there! Let's go for a drive in our car on this road which has a history of flooding!"

 

Except that in some places, like Tornado Alley & the Great Lakes, extremely powerful storms can pop up out of nowhere, surprising even NOAA and the weather services.  Floods, tornadoes etc. from these are truly dangerous, and by the time you look out the window it's way too late.

 

Not a flood, but the July 16 1980 derecho caught us flat footed, with 150 mph straight line winds in our area. Crossed from Indiana to the Detroit area in about 3 hours, causing about $1.5 billion in damages.