Tag Archives: Matthew

Coastal Florida and S. Carolina urged to evacuate as Matthew takes aim

People line up to fill their cars with gas in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew, in Coral Springs, Florida,

By Letitia Stein and Harriet McLeod

TAMPA, Fla./CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) – Millions of people along the U.S. Southeast coast were urged on Wednesday to evacuate and prepare for Hurricane Matthew as the potentially devastating storm took aim at Florida and South Carolina.

Matthew, currently pummeling the Bahamas, was forecast to begin lashing Florida with fierce winds, storm surges and heavy rain late on Thursday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. It has the potential to be the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005.

Governor Rick Scott urged those in vulnerable areas to evacuate early, even if orders had not yet been issued.

“We must prepare to be hit by a devastating hurricane,” Scott told a news conference, noting that a small wobble in Matthew’s path could hugely impact the state.

The governors in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia have all declared states of emergencies.

Matthew, currently a major Category Three storm, was carrying maximum sustained winds around 120 mph (195 kph) on Wednesday morning, according to the Miami-based NHC.

It was likely to strengthen slightly in the coming days, the NHC added, saying it was too soon to predict where Matthew was likely to do the most damage.

“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,” the NHC said in an advisory.

“Only a small deviation of the track to the left of the NHC forecast could bring the core of a major hurricane onshore within the hurricane warning area in Florida. However, a small deviation to the right could keep the hurricane-force winds offshore,” it said.

Florida’s governor activated an additional 300 members of the state National Guard on Wednesday, adding to 200 already summoned the day before.

People queue as they flock to the supermarket to take care of last minute shopping in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew, in Coral Springs, Florida,

People queue as they flock to the supermarket to take care of last minute shopping in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew, in Coral Springs, Florida, U.S. October 5, 2016. REUTERS/Henry Romero

Several school districts had canceled classes for Thursday and Friday, and some were releasing students early on Wednesday.

In South Carolina, about a quarter of a million residents were expected to evacuate from coastal areas.

“If you do not leave, you are putting a National Guardsmen’s or a law enforcement officer’s life on the line,” Governor Nikki Haley said.

As thousands began to evacuate vulnerable areas in South Carolina on Wednesday, drivers reported gridlock delaying traffic for hours. Schools and county government offices in 26 of the state’s 46 counties closed through Friday.

The city of Charleston handed out sandbags and shovels. Gasoline stations in the area posted “out of gas” signs as cars lined up to fill up the tank, but state officials said they know of no significant shortages.

The judge overseeing the murder trial of a Georgia father accused of intentionally leaving his toddler son in a hot car to die in 2014 canceled court for Thursday afternoon and Friday due to the storm.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Tom Brown)

Hurricane Matthew hits Haiti, heads for Cuba and then U.S.

Hurricane Matthew is seen in the Caribbean Sea in this enhanced infrared image from NOAA's GOES-East satellite

By Makini Brice

LES CAYES, Haiti (Reuters) – The fiercest Caribbean storm in almost a decade slammed Haiti on Tuesday with 145 mile-per-hour (230 kph) winds and surging seas that flooded coastal towns, killing at least one person and tearing at trees and rooftops before moving out to sea.

The eye of the violent and slow-moving Category 4 Hurricane Matthew passed over the western tip of Haiti, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, bringing devastating winds, torrential rains and a storm surge with massive waves. The storm was forecast to remain powerful as it made its way to Cuba and the Bahamas.

A hurricane watch was issued for parts of southeast Florida, which the forecasters said Matthew could reach late on Thursday.

Haitian port town Les Cayes, named for the sandy islands off its shore and twice destroyed by hurricanes in the 18th century, was hard hit.

“The situation in Les Cayes is catastrophic, the city is flooded, you have trees lying in different places and you can barely move around, the wind has damaged many houses and taken away their rooftops,” said Deputy Mayor Marie Claudette Regis Delerme, speaking from the town of about 70,000 people.

Regis Delerme said she herself had to flee from a building where she was attending a meeting about the storm, when a gust of wind ripped the roof off.

“It is very difficult to even try to help those who need assistance right now, and we lack financial means to do so,” she said.

One man died as the storm crashed through his home in the nearby beach town of Port Salut, Haiti’s civil protection service said. He had been too sick to leave for a shelter, officials said. A fisherman was killed in heavy seas over the weekend as the storm approached, and another was missing.

There was no immediate word on other potential casualties in the poorest country in the Americas.

RUNNING FOR COVER

Overnight, Haitians living in vulnerable coastal shacks on the western Tiburon Peninsula frantically sought shelter as Matthew closed in. Several districts in southern Haiti were flooded, with crops inundated with ocean and rain water.

As much as 3 feet (1 meter) of rain was forecast to fall over hills that are largely deforested and prone to flash floods and mudslides, threatening villages as well as shantytowns in the capital Port-au-Prince, where heavy rain fell overnight.

The hurricane comes at a time when tens of thousands of people are still living in flimsy tents and makeshift dwellings in Haiti after a 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people.

More than 9,000 people were huddled in shelters across Haiti, authorities said as the eye of the storm passed over the remote fishing town of Les Anglais.

Life-threatening flash floods and mudslides were likely in southern and northwestern Haiti, the hurricane center said. It expected Matthew to remain a powerful hurricane through at least Wednesday night.

The outer bands of the storm reached the area late on Monday, flooding dozens of houses in Les Anglais when the ocean rose, the mayor said.

In the nearby town of Tiburon, the mayor said people who had been reluctant to leave their homes also ran for cover when the sea rose and large waves began hitting the town.

Matthew was 35 miles (60 km) north of Haiti and 90 miles (145 km) south of the eastern tip of Cuba at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT). It was moving north at about 10 miles per hour (17 kph), the hurricane center said.

Cuba’s Communist government traditionally puts extensive efforts into saving lives and property in the face of storms, and authorities have spent days organizing teams of volunteers to move residents to safety and secure property.

The storm is expected to make a hit later on Tuesday in the province of Guantanamo, which is home to the disputed U.S. Naval base and military prison and also to a small Cuban city. The U.S. Navy ordered the evacuation of 700 spouses and children of service personnel as the storm approached.

Guantanamo’s mountainous terrain is the country’s second coffee producer after nearby Santiago, and the storm poses a major threat to the current harvest.

Haiti is due to hold a long-delayed presidential election on Oct. 9. The office of Interim President Jocelerme Privet said there was no change to the election date.

A hurricane watch was in effect from Deerfield Beach, Florida to the Volusia-Brevard county line, a coastal area near Cape Canaveral, which the storm could reach on Thursday, the hurricane center said.

“Direct hurricane impacts are possible in Florida,” the center said. It added that tropical storm or hurricane conditions could also affect parts of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina later this week, even if the center of Matthew remained offshore.

Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for Florida on Monday, designating resources for evacuations and shelters and putting the National Guard on standby.

(Reporting by Joseph Guyler Delva in Port-au-Prince and Makini Brice in Les Cayes; Additional reporting by Marc Frank and Sarah Marsh in Cuba and Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Frances Kerry and Tom Brown)

Hurricane Matthew slams into western Haiti with deadly waves

A saleswoman shows lamps to a customers while other people flock to the supermarket to take care of last minute shopping as Hurricane Matthew approaches in Kingston, Jamaica

By Makini Brice

LES CAYES, Haiti (Reuters) – The fiercest Caribbean storm in almost a decade ripped into Haiti’s southwestern peninsula early on Tuesday with 145 mile-per-hour (230 kph) winds and storm surges that killed at least one person and damaged homes.

The eye of the violent Category 4 storm made landfall near Les Anglais on the western tip of Haiti at 7 a.m EDT, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, pounding coastal villages with strong gusts.

One man died when a wave crashed through his home in the beach town of Port Salut, Haiti’s civil protection service said. He had been too sick to leave for a shelter, officials said. A fisherman also was missing, they said.

Overnight, Haitians living in vulnerable coastal shacks on the Tiburon Peninsula frantically sought shelter as Matthew closed in, bringing heavy rain and driving the ocean into seaside towns.

About 3 feet (1 meter) of rain is forecast to fall over denuded hills prone to flash floods and mudslides, threatening villages as well as shanty towns in the capital Port-au-Prince, where heavy rain fell overnight.

Life-threatening flash floods and mudslides were likely in southern and northwestern Haiti, the hurricane center said. It expected Matthew to remain a powerful hurricane through at least Wednesday night.

The outer bands of the cyclone already had reached the area late on Monday, flooding dozens of houses in Les Anglais when the ocean rose, the mayor said. In the town of Les Cayes on the southern coast, the wind bent trees and the power went out.

A woman protects herself from rain as Hurricane Matthew approaches in Les Cayes, Haiti. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares

A woman protects herself from rain as Hurricane Matthew approaches in Les Cayes, Haiti. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares

 

CHILDREN, PRISONERS MOVED

“We have gusts of wind hitting the whole area and the people have fled to a shelter,” Les Anglais mayor Jean-Claude Despierre said.

In the nearby town of Tiburon, the mayor said people who had been reluctant to leave their homes also ran for cover when the sea rose.

“Everyone is trying to find a safe place to protect themselves, the situation is very difficult,” Mayor Remiza Denize said, describing large waves hitting the town.

Poor Haitians are often reluctant to leave home in the face of storms, fearing their few belongings will be stolen.

Civil protection authorities said 130 children were evacuated by bus to a high school in the capital from an orphanage in the shoreside Cite Soleil slum, made up of tin shacks and open sewers and known as Haiti’s largest shanty town.

On the northern coast, about 300 detainees were transferred from a prison near the sea in the town of Jeremie, the Interior Ministry said.

The cyclone comes at a bad time for Haiti, where tens of thousands of people still live in tents after a 2010 earthquake that killed upwards of 200,000 people.

Cholera introduced by U.N. peacekeepers is expected to rise in the October rainy season, and the country was due to hold a long-delayed presidential election on Oct. 9.

The office of Interim President Jocelerme Privert said there was no change to the election date.

Crawling north at about 9 miles-per-hour (15 kph), the strongest storm since Hurricane Felix in 2009 threatens to linger long enough for its winds and rain to cause great damage in Haiti, where it will spend much of the day before hitting Cuba and the Bahamas later on Tuesday.

It will possibly reach Florida by Thursday as a major hurricane, although weaker than at present, the hurricane center said. Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for Florida on Monday, designating resources for evacuations and shelters and putting the National Guard on standby.

CUBA PREPARES

In Les Cayes about 150 people huddled without electricity or food in the town’s largest shelter, a school.

“Since yesterday we’ve had nothing … We must sleep on the floor … Everyone is hungry,” said Erick Cange, 69 years old, a resident of the La Savanne neighborhood surrounding the school.

The conditions in the shelter compared unfavorably with Haiti’s neighbor Cuba, where authorities spent days organizing teams of volunteers to move residents to safety and secure property.

The storm is expected to make a direct hit later on Tuesday in the province of Guantanamo, the disputed home to a U.S. Naval base and military prison but also a small Cuban city. The U.S. Navy ordered the evacuation of 700 spouses and children of service personnel as the storm approached.

Guantanamo’s mountainous terrain is the country’s second coffee producer after nearby Santiago, and the storm poses a major threat to the current harvest.

The U.S. Agency for International Development said on Monday it was providing a combined $400,000 in aid to Haiti and Jamaica. The agency said in a statement it had pre-positioned relief supplies and was preparing to ship in additional supplies to the central Caribbean.

(Reporting by Joseph Guyler Delva in Port-au-Prince and Maini Brice in Les Cayes; Additional reporting by Sarah Marsh in Cuba and Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Simon Gardner and Bill Trott)