Hurricane Matthew Batters Florida, Leaving Thousands Without Power; Threatens catastrophic damage on march along coast toward Georgia, South Carolina Wall Street Journal (Online) [New York, N.Y] 08 Oct 2016: n/a. Matthew's maximum sustained winds were 105 miles an hour, the upper reaches of a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale, according to the National Hurricane Center's 11 p.m. EDT forecast. DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.--Hurricane Matthew weakened slightly as it neared the northern edge of Florida's Atlantic coast Friday--with fierce rains and winds still threatening to bring catastrophic damage on its journey toward Georgia and South Carolina. Matthew's maximum sustained winds were 105 miles an hour, the upper reaches of a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale, according to the National Hurricane Center's 11 p.m. EDT forecast. Hurricane-force winds extended 60 miles out from the center of the storm, which was expected to bring pounding rain and surges to coastal areas. The storm's documented death toll in Haiti reached 271 , a Haitian government official said Friday, though there were unconfirmed reports of many more fatalities. The hurricane is also linked to at least four deaths in Florida. Two people died in St. Lucie County, when the storm made it impossible for rescue crews to reach people suffering medical emergencies, a spokeswoman for the county Fire District said. In one case, a woman in her late 50s suffered cardiac arrest around 1:20 a.m. and has since died, spokeswoman Catherine Chaney said. An 82-year-old man died after an apparent stroke and breathing problems a couple of hours later, she said. Someone rushed him to the hospital by car, but he died, Ms. Chaney said. To the north in Volusia County, a falling tree killed a woman in her early 60s in northwest DeLand when she went outside to feed some animals during a lull in the storm, County Manager Jim Dinneen said. And a woman in Putnam County died after a tree fell on her trailer, according to a statement from the Putnam County Sheriff's Office. The latest forecast track called for the storm's center to move near, or over, the coast of northeast Florida and Georgia through Friday night, and to near the South Carolina coast on Saturday, the Hurricane Center said. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley warned that the storm could drench her state with up to 14 inches of rain while skirting the coast. "Really the best thing now is to hunker down, stay in a safe place," she said at a news conference. As it churned up the Florida coast earlier Friday, the storm downed power lines and triggered transformer fires in Volusia County, one county official said. Though the impact from Matthew would have been far more severe if the eye of the storm had passed directly over Volusia County, the area still suffered damage. Part of a pier in the city of Daytona Beach Shores broke off, said Joanne Magley, community information director for the county. Roadways near the In ...

1. Hurricane Matthew Batters Florida, Leaving Thousands Without
Power; Threatens catastrophic damage on march along coast
toward Georgia, South Carolina
Wall Street Journal (Online) [New York, N.Y] 08 Oct 2016: n/a.
Matthew's maximum sustained winds were 105 miles an hour,
the upper reaches of a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson
Wind Scale, according to the National Hurricane Center's 11
p.m. EDT forecast.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.--Hurricane Matthew weakened
slightly as it neared the northern edge of Florida's Atlantic coast
Friday--with fierce rains and winds still threatening to bring
catastrophic damage on its journey toward Georgia and South
Carolina.
Matthew's maximum sustained winds were 105 miles an hour,
the upper reaches of a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson
Wind Scale, according to the National Hurricane Center's 11
p.m. EDT forecast. Hurricane-force winds extended 60 miles
out from the center of the storm, which was expected to bring
pounding rain and surges to coastal areas.
The storm's documented death toll in Haiti reached 271 , a
Haitian government official said Friday, though there were
unconfirmed reports of many more fatalities. The hurricane is
also linked to at least four deaths in Florida.
Two people died in St. Lucie County, when the storm made it
impossible for rescue crews to reach people suffering medical
emergencies, a spokeswoman for the county Fire District said.
In one case, a woman in her late 50s suffered cardiac arrest
around 1:20 a.m. and has since died, spokeswoman Catherine
Chaney said. An 82-year-old man died after an apparent stroke

2. and breathing problems a couple of hours later, she said.
Someone rushed him to the hospital by car, but he died, Ms.
Chaney said.
To the north in Volusia County, a falling tree killed a woman in
her early 60s in northwest DeLand when she went outside to
feed some animals during a lull in the storm, County Manager
Jim Dinneen said. And a woman in Putnam County died after a
tree fell on her trailer, according to a statement from the
Putnam County Sheriff's Office.
The latest forecast track called for the storm's center to move
near, or over, the coast of northeast Florida and Georgia
through Friday night, and to near the South Carolina coast on
Saturday, the Hurricane Center said.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley warned that the storm could
drench her state with up to 14 inches of rain while skirting the
coast. "Really the best thing now is to hunker down, stay in a
safe place," she said at a news conference.
As it churned up the Florida coast earlier Friday, the storm
downed power lines and triggered transformer fires in Volusia
County, one county official said.
Though the impact from Matthew would have been far more
severe if the eye of the storm had passed directly over Volusia
County, the area still suffered damage. Part of a pier in the city
of Daytona Beach Shores broke off, said Joanne Magley,
community information director for the county. Roadways near
the Intracoastal Waterway in the city of Port Orange flooded,
making bridges inaccessible, she said.
Bridges connecting the mainland to barrier islands remained
closed until officials can determine they are safe to cross.

3. On Friday evening, after the worst of Matthew had passed, the
weather remained blustery in Daytona Beach. Some residents
ventured out and a smattering of cars cruised around, but the
streets were mostly quiet.
Toppled trees blocked some streets and debris including
branches and palm fronds littered the ground. Near Interstate
95, a large freeway sign lay twisted on the side of a road.
About 24,000 Floridians are in shelters, Florida Governor Rick
Scott said, and more than 1.1 million customers in Florida were
without power as of early Friday evening. About 675,000 of
those customers were in Florida Power & Light's territory. The
utility warned ahead of the storm that as many as 2.5 million
customers could lose service.
Matthew is packing a bigger punch than Hurricane Hermine,
which hit the Florida coast last month, knocking out power to
300,000 homes and businesses. The last time Florida suffered
massive electrical outages was October 2005 when Hurricane
Wilma slammed into the state as a Category 3 storm and more
than 3.2 million Florida Power & Light customers were left in
the dark.
Friday afternoon, Mr. Scott asked President Barack Obama to
upgrade Florida's emergency designation to major disaster,
which would grant the state more recovery resources. Florida
received the major disaster designation for Hermine more than
two weeks after the hurricane dissipated last month.
In Volusia County, where Daytona is located, bridges to barrier
islands were closed as of 4 p.m. Friday. A curfew was in place
throughout the county until 7 a.m. Saturday, and Volusia
County Sheriff Ben Johnson said anyone violating the curfew
would be arrested.

4. Deputy County Manager George Recktenwald said 50 roads
were completely blocked and many had standing water. "More
people die after an event than during nationwide," he said,
warning people about debris such as fallen branches, signs and
broken glass, downed power lines and generators not used
safely.
"We got really lucky in what meteorologists call the wobble,"
Mr. Dinneen said. "We were one wobble away from disaster.
What will be a storm with damage would have been a storm that
was catastrophic."
Brevard County--where mandatory evacuation orders were
issued for 90,000 people living on barrier islands, in low-lying
areas and in mobile homes--saw a top wind speed of 108 mph
right before 7 a.m., according to the Brevard County Emergency
Management Office. About 190,000 customers in the county
were recently without power.
A hurricane warning was in effect for much of the Atlantic
coast of the southeastern U.S., from the Flagler/Volusia county
line near Daytona Beach, Fla., to Surf City, N.C.
Power outages in Georgia climbed to about 80,000 by Friday
evening, utility Georgia Power said. A mandatory evacuation
remained in effect Friday for all coastal areas from I-95 to the
water. Evacuation routes leading to hotels, shelters or friends
and family were crowded into the night as people poured north
into Middle Georgia and Atlanta.
Most of Chatham County, with a population of 278,000 and
home to Savannah, the state's third-largest city, was put under
the evacuation order. The Chatham County Emergency
Management Agency warned people needing help leaving that
all public transportation out of the county would stop by noon
Friday.

5. Caravans of utility trucks cruised down Georgia highways
Friday afternoon to prepare for the post-storm restoration effort.
Hotels across Georgia, to Atlanta and beyond, were filled with
evacuees from the coast.
Elizabeth Bernstein in Miami, Jon Kamp in Boston, Valerie
Bauerlein in Florence, S.C., Cameron McWhirter in Grovetown,
Ga., Allison Kite in Washington, D.C., and Cassandra Sweet in
San Francisco contributed to this article.
Write to Arian Campo-Flores at [email protected]
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Credit: By Arian Campo-Flores