They’re not kidding.
Florida authorities sounded alarms not heard in years Thursday as Hurricane Matthew stayed on a path for the state's east coast overnight.
The first band of rain from Matthew arrived in Florida on Thursday, ahead of a projected landfall between West Palm Beach and Cape Canaveral that Gov. Rick Scott warned would be "catastrophic."
"People do not seem to get it and are not leaving," Martin County Sheriff William D. Snyder told NBC News. "I'm not saying this to be theatrical. ... I asked my captain of detectives if he had body bags, because if we get 140 mile-per-hour winds in mobile home parks, we are going to have fatalities."
As of 5 pm EST the storm was 100 miles East/Southeast of West Palm Beach. Half of the state’s National Guard contingent has been activated.
The Melbourne office of the National Weather Service warned of "devastating to catastrophic" impacts, with complete roof and wall failures and total destruction of mobile homes.
"Locations may be uninhabitable for weeks or months," it said.
This is not a joke, and this is not a drill. This is not something to “ride out.” Millions of people are projected to lose power, possibly for a very, very long time as the winds wipe out the power grid. Approximately 97,000 homes with a value of 19 Billion dollars are located in Daytona Beach, directly in the storm's path. Nuclear plants supplying electricity in Florida are being shut down.
"This is like no storm in the record books," said Bryan Norcross, senior hurricane specialist for The Weather Channel, who predicted "a heartbreaking loss of life."
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This is not hype, this is not hyperbole, and I am not kidding," Norcross said. "I cannot overstate the danger of this storm. Central and northern Florida have never been hit by a hurricane this strong."
This will be the first Hurricane, Category Three or higher, to hit the U.S. mainland since 2005.
"This is a scary storm," South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said bluntly at a news conference early Thursday evening, adding: "Now is the time for the state to pray."
The major threat is the storm surge, as water cascades inland.
[T]the major threat to the Southeast would not be the winds — which newer buildings can withstand — but the massive surge of seawater that could wash over coastal communities along a 500-mile stretch from South Florida to the Charleston, South Carolina, area.
This Breaking—President Obama has added South Carolina to the state of emergency.
Winds of 100-150 MPH are expected. “These winds can completely wipe out well-built homes and destroy complete neighborhoods.”
Not to pile on. DarkSyde just put up something similar to this.