Hurricane Matthew has already wreaked havoc in Haiti killing hundreds of people on its way. Now, the beastly storm has hit the Florida coast with hurricane force winds during the early morning hours (local time).
As per meteorologists, the path of the storm is quite critical as of now and the system may result in devastating effects on its path. The eye of the storm is dangerously close to the coast which is why damaging winds, and heavy rains are likely over several parts of Florida.
By the weekend, the storm surge is expected to result in heavy rains along with gusty winds up to South Carolina and Georgia. The eyewall of the storm may brush against the coast resulting in monstrous winds which may continue until Saturday.
While Matthew has weakened from a category 4 to a Cat 3 hurricane, it did bring torrential rains and tempestuous winds, some of which could even be deadly. Over 1.5 million people have been evacuated from the affected region and around 2 lakhs are without power.
As per meteorologists, chances are that the storm surge could be as high as 11 feet and over 350 mm of rainfall could be witnessed in several areas. The hurricane is expected to cause damage worth billions of dollars.
As per US National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Matthew may be the strongest storm to have struck East Florida in over a 100 years. A state of emergency has been declared in South Carolina and Florida.
As per the National Weather Service, there may be a few areas which could be uninhabitable for days and even weeks from now on. At least 300 people have already been killed due to Hurricane Matthew in Haiti and it may cause more damage in the future.
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