Switzerland has sent six experts and set aside CHF2 million ($2 million) to help the survivors of Hurricane Matthew, which has devastated the Caribbean island of Haiti.

Thousands of inhabitants have been left homeless and the number of victims is rising - by Friday afternoon it stood at more than 300 according to officials - after the powerful storm slammed into the island on Tuesday.

Switzerland sent six experts from its Humanitarian Aid Unit to Haiti early this morning, a foreign ministry statement said on Friday.

“They are experts in emergency shelter, water and sanitation, logistics and security. They will be accompanied by a representative of the Swiss Red Cross,” the statement explained.

At the same time, an expert has arrived in neighbouring Dominican Republic to buy emergency supplies that are needed in Haiti.

The team will work closely with the Swiss representation in Port-au-Prince to coordinate Swiss assistance with the Haitian authorities and local partners (non-governmental organisations, embassies). It should then be able to carry out emergency aid and early recovery measures.

As Haiti is one of the priority countries of the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development (SDC), the organisation already had several experts in the field which it has been able to mobilise, the statement continued. Thus, two mobile water treatment units have been deployed in the affected areas helping to distribute clean water to around 12,000 people. Extra measures will be added as the need arises.

“A budget amounting to CHF2 million has been reserved as a first step to cover the first measures undertaken and eventual contributions to partners in the field,” the foreign ministry said.



Across Haiti, there are some 350,000 people in need of assistance, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.



The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which has its headquarters in Geneva, has launched an emergency appeal for $6.9 million (CHF6.8 million) "to provide medical, shelter, water and sanitation assistance to 50,000 people".



Most of the deaths in Haiti were around the southern coast, with many killed by falling trees, flying debris and swollen rivers.



Category Three Matthew, with sustained winds of 193km/hour, is now heading up the coastline of the United States state of Florida but has not made landfall. It is not yet clear whether it will do so.</s>CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A strengthening Hurricane Matthew steamed toward Florida with winds of 140 mph Thursday as hundreds of thousands of people across the Southeast boarded up their homes and fled inland to escape the most powerful storm to threaten the Atlantic coast in more than a decade.

In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott said the state, its skies already darkening from the deadly storm’s outer bands of rain, could be facing its “biggest evacuation ever.”

The hurricane picked up steam as it closed in, growing from a Category 3 to a Category 4 storm by late morning.

It barreled over the Bahamas and was expected to scrape nearly the entire length of Florida’s Atlantic coast beginning Thursday evening. From there, forecasters said, it could push its way just off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina before veering off to sea.

About 2 million people in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina were warned to head inland.

As people hurried for higher ground, authorities in South Carolina said a motorist died on Wednesday after being shot by deputies during a dispute along an evacuation route.

Matthew killed at least 29 people in the Caribbean as it sliced through Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas. Twenty-three of those deaths were in Haiti, where the full extent of the death and destruction was still unknown.

As of 11 a.m. EDT, Matthew was 180 miles southeast of West Palm Beach and moving toward the city at about 14 mph. Nearly all of Florida’s Atlantic coast and Georgia’s entire coast were under hurricane warnings.

Forecasters said the storm could dump up to 15 inches of rain in some spots and cause a storm surge of 5 feet to 8 feet.

“This is a dangerous storm,” Scott warned. “The storm has already killed people. We should expect the same impact in Florida.”

Patients were transferred from two Florida waterfront hospitals and a nursing home near Daytona Beach to safer locations.

Major theme parks in inland Orlando remained open, but Walt Disney World and Universal Studios canceled Halloween events Thursday night.

The Fort Lauderdale Airport closed to all flights late in the morning.

Deborah Whyte walked her dogs at Jupiter Beach Park in the morning to check the surf.

“We boarded up our house and I boarded up my store” in Tequesta. “And we’re just hunkering down and waiting for it,” she said.

But others as far off as Georgia and South Carolina rushed to leave.

On Tybee Island, home to Georgia’s largest public beach, Loren Kook loaded up his pickup truck with suitcases and a computer late Wednesday afternoon to hit the road to metro Atlanta.

“It seems like a lot of the longtime residents are staying,” said Kook, who moved to the coast four years ago. “I’ve never sat through a Category Whatever. I’ll watch it on TV.”

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal urged more than a half-million residents to leave their homes, the first evacuation seen in coastal Georgia in 17 years.</s>LES CAYES, Haiti — The fiercest Caribbean storm in almost a decade battered Haiti’s southwest coast with 145-mph winds and surging seas that flooded coastal towns on Tuesday, tearing at trees and rooftops before moving out to sea.

Hurricane Matthew dumped torrential rain across the island of Hispaniola that Haiti shares with Dominican Republic, where four people were killed by collapsing walls and mudslides. In Haiti, at least one person was killed.

There was no immediate word on other potential casualties. But Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told reporters in Washington the U.S. Navy was looking at possibly sending an aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, and other ships to the region to aid relief efforts.

The United States has already offered Haiti the use of some helicopters, said Haitian Interior Minister Francois Anick Joseph, who added that damage to housing and crops in the impoverished country was apparently extensive.

“It is too early to do a real assessment, but it has been very serious,” Anick Joseph told Reuters, saying roads to the south were blocked, phones were down and the weather made overflights were impossible.

The eye of the violent Category 4 Hurricane Matthew passed over Haiti’s western tip early on Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, bringing devastating winds, heavy rains and a storm surge with massive waves.

It was forecast to remain extremely powerful as it made its way to Cuba and the Bahamas, and a hurricane watch was issued for parts of southeast Florida, which the forecasters said Matthew could reach late on Thursday.

President Barack Obama canceled a trip to Florida scheduled for Wednesday because of the potential impact of Matthew, the White House said.

The Haitian port town of 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.

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.

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.

Hurricane conditions remained in parts of Haiti and as much as 3 feet of rain was forecast to fall over hills that are largely deforested and prone to flash floods and mudslides, threatening villages as well as shantytown in the capital Port-au-Prince.

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.

The center of Matthew was 55 miles south of the eastern tip of Cuba at 2 p.m. EDT. It was moving north at about 10 mph, 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 was expected to hit the tourist town of Baracoa in the province of Guantanamo in the far southeast of Cuba later on Tuesday, passing close to the disputed U.S. naval base and military prison and also to a small Cuban city of the same name.

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.

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.

Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for Florida on Monday, designating resources for evacuations and shelters and putting the National Guard on standby.</s>MIAMI, Florida (JTA) — Jewish institutions here were bracing for the worst as officials issued dire warnings about Hurricane Matthew, a Category 4 storm that approached the state’s Atlantic coast Thursday evening and was to move up the coast over the next 24 hours.

The National Hurricane Center called Matthew, which wreaked havoc through Cuba and Haiti, extremely dangerous.

“It is expected to remain a category four hurricane as it moves near the coast, bringing the potential for extensive damage across northeast Palm Beach County,” read a National Hurricane Center report on Thursday afternoon. “Elsewhere, the main concern is the potential for significant wind damage across the remainder of Palm Beach and northeastern Broward counties where there continues to be a threat of hurricane conditions. Squalls associated with the rain bands of Matthew are impacting much of South Florida, and will continue to be able to produce tropical storm force wind gusts through Friday.”

The 550,000 Jews of south Florida joined their neighbors in hanging hurricane shutters to shield windows from flying objects as well staying home from work and school. In many cases the weather is preventing communal religious gatherings because of the dangers of braving 100-mile-per-hour winds predicted during landfall.

Many synagogues are shuttering for Shabbat as the storm is predicted to rage during that time and could potentially leave a dangerous mess in its aftermath. The entire state is practically in lockdown and many are being told to evacuate coastal areas.

The proprietor of Zak the Baker kosher restaurant in the hip Wynnwood section of Miami posted a Facebook photo of staff boarding up the storefront on Thursday morning. The Miami Jewish Federation rescheduled a Thursday night Community Memorial Service honoring Israeli President Shimon Peres organized together with the Consulate General of Israel in Miami and other groups.

In Miami the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center and Tauber Academy announced closures Thursday, October 6 and Friday, October 7. It affected their daily minyan in the morning and afternoon. An announcement on their web page said the leadership would continue to monitor the storm and its aftermath and promised to advise the congregation via text message about holding Friday night and Saturday morning services this coming Shabbat if weather, road and building conditions permit.

Temple Israel of Greater Miami on the mainland and Temple Beth Sholom on Miami Beach closed during the week, also telling their congregants they would open for services Friday and Saturday weather permitting.

Farther south, Congregation Bet Shira in Pinecrest erred on the side of caution telling congregants through social media there would be no Friday evening Shabbat services but Saturday morning Shabbat services would take place as usual, providing the synagogue has electrical power. Central and northern coastal areas were expected to bear the brunt of the storm.

Evacuation orders were given for those residing in coastal areas starting around the Palm Beach area as well as counties to the north.

“This storm will kill you,” Governor Rick Scott said in a Thursday press conference, urging Floridians to take the storm seriously.

With the danger of a storm surge, the egalitarian Temple Emanuel, located on the barrier islands of Palm Beach, cancelled Friday night and Shabbat morning services. The Conservative Temple B’nai Jacob of Wellington in the western suburbs of Palm Beach County urged congregants through their Facebook page to make sure their preparations for the hurricane were thorough and complete.

“Evacuate if necessary,” they urged. “Call another member of our community if you need assistance. Contact the appropriate authorites or the shul if you need help for a specific emergency. Be safe, and be strong. Chazak v’nitchazek! Be strong and we will strengthen each other! See you on Yom Kippur, when we will bentch gomel together as a congregation for delivering us from danger.”

CBS 4 newscasters on Thursday afternoon warned viewers of the post-storm dangers, specifically the possibility of downed power lines.

Temple Beth Kodesh in Boynton Beach in Palm Beach County, Temple Beit HeYam in Stuart, Temple Beth El in Port Saint Lucie and Temple Beth in Jupiter are also shuttered until Monday.

On Thursday morning the Orthodox Palm Beach Synagogue posted photos of men in the shul garbed in their talitot and tefillin captioned: “Last morning service at the Palm Beach Synagogue before the storm. Praying for everyone to be safe!”

Farther north the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando closed their operations as did the Maitland Jewish Community Campus through Monday. The Conservative Jacksonville, Florida Jewish Center synagogue also announced their closing this week, moving their annual cemetery memorial with another synagogue indoors on Sunday to the Jacksonville Jewish Center.

By far, the most creative message explaining the series of cancellations through Monday caused by weather was a YouTube video posted by the clergy at Temple Judea of Palm Beach Gardens. Rabbi Yaron Kapitulnik and Cantor Alicia Stillman sang the traditional Shalom Aleichem Shabbat song in front of the temple’s ark.

“Yehi ratzon lefanecha Adonai elohenu velohei avotenu, may it be your will Adonai, God of our ancestors, that we all remain safe and dry, Amen,” Kapitulnik ended the video.</s>The first major hurricane threatening a direct hit on the United States in more than 10 years lashed Florida on Friday with heavy rains and winds after killing at least 339 people in Haiti on its destructive march north through the Caribbean.

Hurricane Matthew packed gusts of 70 miles per hour (115 kph) and heavy downpours across coastal communities in Florida as the storm’s eye moved parallel to and just offshore of Florida’s east coast near Cape Canaveral, home to the nation’s chief space launch site, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory.

“We are seriously ground zero here in Cape Canaveral - hunkered down, lights flickering winds are crazy,” said resident Sandy Wilk on Twitter.

At 5 a.m. EDT, Matthew was about 65 km southeast of Cape Canaveral, the hurricane centre said. It was heading north-northwest at about 20 kph and was expected to continue on this track through the early part of Friday. The centre said the storm is expected to gradually weaken during the next 48 hours.

NASA and the U.S. Air Force, which operate the Cape Canaveral launch site, took steps to safeguard personnel and equipment.

A team of 116 employees was bunkered down inside Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Control Center to ride out the hurricane.

“We’ve had some close calls, but as far as I know it’s the first time we’ve had the threat of a direct hit,” NASA spokesman George Diller said by email from the hurricane bunker.

No significant damage or injuries were reported in West Palm Beach and other communities in south Florida where the storm downed trees and power lines earlier in the night, CNN and local media reported.

About 300,000 Florida households were without power, local media reported. In West Palm Beach, once lit street lights and houses went dark and Interstate 95 was empty as the storm rolled through the community of 100,000 people.

Hurricane Matthew was carrying extremely dangerous winds of 195 kph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Matthew’s winds had dropped on Thursday night and into Friday morning, downgrading it to a Category 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity, where it could either plow inland or tear along the Atlantic coast through Friday night, the Miami-based centre said.

Few storms with winds as powerful as Matthew’s have struck Florida, and the NHC warned of “potentially disastrous impacts.” The U.S. National Weather Service said the storm could be the most powerful to strike northeast Florida in 118 years.

A dangerous storm surge was expected to reach up to 11 feet (3.35 meters) along the Florida coast, Ed Rappaport, deputy director of the Miami-based NHC, said on CNN.

“What we know is that most of the lives lost in hurricanes is due to storm surge,” he said.

Some 339 people were killed in Haiti, local officials said, and thousands were displaced after the storm flattened homes, uprooted trees and inundated neighbourhoods earlier in the week. Four people were killed in the Dominican Republic, which neighbours Haiti.

Damage and potential casualties in the Bahamas were still unclear as the storm passed near the capital, Nassau, on Thursday and then out over the western end of Grand Bahama Island.

It was too soon to predict where Matthew might do the most damage in the United States, but the NHC’s hurricane warning extended up the Atlantic coast from southern Florida through Georgia and into South Carolina. More than 12 million people in the United States were under hurricane watches and warnings, according to the Weather Channel.

The last major hurricane, classified as a storm bearing sustained winds of more than 177 kph, to make landfall on U.S. shores was Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

Jeff Masters, a veteran hurricane expert, said on his Weather Underground website that Matthew’s wind threat was especially serious at Cape Canaveral, which juts into the Atlantic off central Florida.

“If Matthew does make landfall along the Florida coast, this would be the most likely spot for it. Billions of dollars of facilities and equipment are at risk at Kennedy Space Center and nearby bases, which have never before experienced a major hurricane,” Masters wrote.

’AS SERIOUS AS IT GETS’

Roads in Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina were jammed, and gas stations and food stores ran out of supplies as the storm approached early on Thursday.

Governor Rick Scott warned there could be “catastrophic” damage if Matthew slammed directly into the state and urged some 1.5 million people there to evacuate.

“If you’re reluctant to evacuate, just think about all the people ... already killed,” Scott said at a news conference. “Time is running out. This is clearly either going to have a direct hit or come right along the coast.”

Scott, who activated several thousand National Guard troops to help deal with the storm, warned that millions of people were likely to be left without power.

Florida, Georgia and South Carolina opened shelters for evacuees. As of Thursday morning, more than 3,000 people were being housed in 60 shelters in Florida, Scott said.

Those three states as well as North Carolina declared states of emergency, empowering their governors to mobilize the National Guard.

President Barack Obama called the governors of the four states on Thursday to discuss preparations for the storm. He declared a state of emergency in Florida and South Carolina, a move that authorized federal agencies to co-ordinate disaster relief efforts. Late Thursday, Obama declared an emergency in Georgia and ordered federal aid to the state.

“Hurricane Matthew is as serious as it gets. Listen to local officials, prepare, take care of each other,” Obama warned people in the path of the storm in a posting on Twitter.

Hundreds of passenger flights were canceled in south Florida, and cancellations were expected to spread north in coming days along the storm’s path, airlines including American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines said.</s>(AP) — Gaining fury as it closed in, Hurricane Matthew steamed toward Florida with winds of 140 mph Thursday as 2 million people across the Southeast were warned to board up their homes and flee inland to escape the most powerful storm to threaten the Atlantic coast in more than a decade.

"The storm has already killed people. We should expect the same impact in Florida," Florida Gov. Rick Scott said as the skies began darkening from Matthew's outer bands of rain.

By late morning, the hurricane had grown from a possibly devastating Category 3 storm to a potentially catastrophic Category 4.

It roared over the Bahamas and was expected to scrape nearly the entire length of Florida's Atlantic coast beginning Thursday evening. From there, forecasters said, it could push its way just off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina before veering off to sea.

About 2 million people in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina were told to head for safety, and interstate highways were turned into one-way routes to enable them to get out quickly. Scott said Florida could be looking at its biggest evacuation ever.

Forecasters said the storm's fiercest winds appeared unlikely to strike Miami or Fort Lauderdale, the most densely populated areas in Florida, with about 4.4 million residents. Those cities were expected to get tropical storm-force winds of between 39 mph and 73 mph.

Instead, forecasters said the West Palm Beach and Cape Canaveral areas farther north could get the brunt of the storm.

The last Category 3 storm or higher to hit the U.S. was Wilma in October 2005. It sliced across Florida with 120 mph winds, killing five people and causing an estimated $21 billion in damage.

As people hurried for higher ground, authorities in South Carolina said a motorist died on Wednesday after being shot by deputies in a gun battle that erupted after he sped away from a checkpoint along a storm evacuation route.

Matthew killed at least 29 people in the Caribbean as it roared through Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas. Twenty-three of those deaths were in Haiti, where many towns were cut off by the storm and the full magnitude of the death and destruction was still unclear two days later.

In the Bahamas, authorities reported many downed trees and power lines but no immediate deaths.

As of 11 a.m. EDT, Matthew was 180 miles southeast of West Palm Beach, Florida, and moving toward the city at about 14 mph. Nearly all of Florida's Atlantic coast and Georgia's entire coast were under hurricane warnings.

With hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 60 miles from the storm's center, Matthew could wreak havoc along the coast even if it were to stay just offshore.

Forecasters said it could dump up to 15 inches of rain in some spots and cause a storm surge of 9 feet.

Daniel Myras, who has lived for 25 years in Daytona Beach, where he owns the Cruisin Cafe two blocks from the boardwalk, struggled to find enough plywood to board up his restaurant.

"We're not going to take any chances on this one," he said. "I have the feeling that this one is the one that makes Daytona realize that we need to get ready for storms. A lot of people here, they laugh, and say they've been through storms before and they're not worried. But I think this is the one that's going to give us a wake-up call."

Patients were transferred from two Florida waterfront hospitals and a nursing home near Daytona Beach to safer locations.

Major theme parks in inland Orlando remained open, but Walt Disney World and Universal Studios canceled Halloween events Thursday night.

The Fort Lauderdale Airport closed to all flights late in the morning.

Deborah Whyte walked her dogs at Jupiter Beach Park in the morning to check the surf.

"We boarded up our house and I boarded up my store" in Tequesta. "And we're just hunkering down and waiting for it," she said.

But others rushed to leave.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal ordered a mandatory evacuation of the entire Georgia coast, covering more than a half-million people. The Georgia coast hasn't seen a hurricane evacuation since 1999, when it narrowly escaped Hurricane Floyd.

On Tybee Island, home to Georgia's largest public beach, Loren Kook loaded up his pickup truck with suitcases and a computer and planned to drive to metro Atlanta.

"It seems like a lot of the longtime residents are staying," said Kook, who moved to the coast four years ago. "I've never sat through a Category Whatever. I'll watch it on TV."</s>Florida has officially dodged a 140 mile per hour bullet. Although the central coast is still being whipped with hurricane-force winds this morning, Matthew looks likely to avoid making landfall in the Sunshine State — just barely. The killer eye wall missed the coast by less than five miles in some spots.

In short, we got lucky as hell. But that's not how longtime Miami resident Matt Drudge reads the story. As the worst potential impacts still lingered last night, Drudge took to Twitter to suggest the whole storm was a twisted government conspiracy:

There are so many obviously incorrect points in those two tweets it's hard to know where to even start refuting them. Let's start with the data, which is far from "monopolized" by the Hurricane Center.

As any amateur meteorologist in Miami can tell you, Twitter and the web are flooded with independent data from dozens of different satellites, computer models and weather stations. In fact, it's probably safe to say that most Floridians got their Matthew news from someone other than the National Hurricane Center.

Secondly, what exactly would the government gain by pretending a hurricane was worse than it really was? Making an "exaggerated point on climate"? Wouldn't that point be immediately lost when people realized the storm wasn't that bad?

But there's also no doubt that Matthew was exactly as dangerous as everyone warned. The death toll from the hurricane in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and St. Vincent now stands at 478 people, and that figure will likely rise. In Cuba, the historic town of Baracoa was leveled.

Miami — and Florida as a whole — should be grateful we missed the worst of the storm. Just look at how close the storm's center came to the coast!

As for Matthew today, Miami's tropical storm warning was officially lifted at 5 a.m. by the National Hurricane Center, though gusty wind and some rain will likely stick around throughout Friday. The storm is still brushing along the Atlantic Coast, with a 100 mph gust recorded in Cape Canaveral this morning.

And Miami probably isn't done with Matthew just yet. The NHC's latest models confirm that the "Loop Scenario" is real. Matthew will be back in our neighborhood next week, though likely as a far weakened tropical storm:</s>A woman carrying a child walks in the rain triggered by Hurricane Matthew in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Hurricane Matthew roared into the southwestern coast of Haiti on Tuesday, threatening a largely rural corner of the impoverished country with devastating storm conditions as it headed north toward Cuba and the eastern coast of Florida. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Wind blows coconut trees during the passage of Hurricane Matthew in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Hurricane Matthew roared into the southwestern coast of Haiti on Tuesday, threatening a largely rural corner of the impoverished country with devastating storm conditions as it headed north toward Cuba and the eastern coast of Florida. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Women cover their heads with pans as they walk in a light rain brought by Hurricane Matthew in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. Hurricane Matthew roared into the southwestern coast of Haiti on Tuesday, threatening a largely rural corner of the impoverished country with devastating storm conditions as it headed north toward Cuba and the eastern coast of Florida. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

A dog crosses a street under heavy rain in downtown Kingston, Jamaica, Sunday Oct. 2 , 2016. An extremely dangerous Hurricane Matthew is moving slowly over the Caribbean. It's following a track that authorities are warning could trigger devastation in parts of Haiti. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)

A car tries to cross a flooded street in downtown Kingston Jamaica, Sunday Oct. 2 , 2016. An extremely dangerous Hurricane Matthew is moving slowly over the Caribbean. It's following a track that authorities are warning could trigger devastation in parts of Haiti. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)

People stand on the coast watching the surf produced by Hurricane Matthew, on the outskirts of Kingston, Jamaica, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. A hurricane warning is in effect for Jamaica, Haiti, and the Cuban provinces of Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Granma and Las Tunas - as well as the southeastern Bahamas. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A police officer helps residents climb down from a pickup after been evacuated prior the arrival of Hurricane Matthew, in Tabarre, Haiti, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. The center of Hurricane Matthew is expected to pass near or over southwestern Haiti on Tuesday, but the area is already experiencing rain from the outer bands of the storm. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

A woman protects herself from the rain with a piece of plastic prior the arrival of Hurricane Matthew, in Tabarre, Haiti, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. The center of Hurricane Matthew is expected to pass near or over southwestern Haiti on Tuesday, but the area is already experiencing rain from the outer bands of the storm. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

A security guard sits next to a several stores that had their windows covered with plywood in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Matthew in Kingston, Jamaica, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. Major Hurricane Matthew is slowly churning northward across the Caribbean and meteorologists say the powerful storm is expected to approach Jamaica and southwest Haiti by Monday night. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Civil protection workers asks residents to evacuate their homes located near the the Grise river, in Tabarre, Haiti, Monday Oct. 3, 2016. The center of Hurricane Matthew is expected to pass near or over southwestern Haiti on Tuesday, but the area is already experiencing rain from the outer bands of the storm. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

A girl watches as authorities arrive to evacuate people from her house in Tabarre, Haiti, Monday, Oct. 3, 2016. The center of Hurricane Matthew is expected to pass near or over southwestern Haiti on Tuesday, but the area is already experiencing rain from the outer bands of the storm. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Cars drive along a street under heavy rain in downtown Kingston Jamaica, Sunday Oct. 2 , 2016. An extremely dangerous Hurricane Matthew is moving slowly over the Caribbean. It's following a track that authorities are warning could trigger devastation in parts of Haiti.(AP Photo/Collin Reid)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — People boarded up beach homes, schools closed and officials ordered evacuations along the East Coast on Wednesday as Hurricane Matthew tore through the Bahamas and took aim at Florida, where the governor urged coastal residents to “leave now” if they were able.

Matthew was a dangerous and life-threatening Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 120 mph, and it was expected to be very near Florida’s Atlantic coast by Thursday evening. At least 11 deaths in the Caribbean have been blamed on the storm.

In South Carolina, traffic was bumper-to-bumper as people fled on Interstate 26, the main artery out of Charleston. Gasoline was hard to come by, with at least half a dozen stations along the coast out of fuel and long lines at others.

“We’re staying because we have to board the house up,” Buff Schwab said as she wheeled in a cooler filled with food she purchased the night before at a local supermarket.

Storm shutters were closed on a number of palatial homes overlooking Charleston’s Civil War-era Battery along the water. Carriage tours made their way down streets that were largely empty of traffic.

“I’m worried. I’ve gotten a lot of calls to go home,” Schwab said of her relatives in North Carolina. “It is what it is and we’re going to sit it out and put a lot of food in the crock pot.”

In Florida, theme parks watched the storm closely and told customers to anticipate altered hours. Voluntary and mandatory evacuations were to take place Wednesday in the central part of the state.

“If you’re able to go early, leave now,” Gov. Rick Scott said.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Matthew — at one point a fierce Category 5 — will remain a powerful storm at least through Thursday night as it nears Florida. The Hurricane Center said fluctuation in intensity was expected and some strengthening is forecast in coming days as the storm crawls up the coast.

Forecasters said there was a danger of life-threatening storm surge inundation along Florida’s east coast, much of which was under a hurricane watch or warning.

“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,” said senior hurricane specialist Lixion Avila.

President Barack Obama was briefed on the federal government’s preparation at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s headquarters in Washington.

Now is the time to “hope for the best but we want to prepare for the worst,” Obama said.

FEMA has deployed personnel to emergency operation centres in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. It’s also positioning commodities and other supplies at Fort Bragg in North Carolina and in Albany, Georgia.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced plans starting Wednesday afternoon to evacuate a quarter million people — not including tourists — from the coast.

Haley said 315 buses were dispatched to two major coastal counties to help with evacuations. The National Guard and other law enforcement agents are mobilized, ready to ensure an orderly evacuation.

“We ask everybody to please be safe,” Haley said, warning those thinking of staying put that they could be risking the life of a law enforcement officer if they had to be rescued later.

In Florida, a message on Walt Disney World’s website Wednesday said all of its theme parks and resorts are “currently operating under normal conditions” as officials continue to monitor the storm. They advised those who plan on visiting Disney to monitor news outlets for the latest weather information.

Officials at SeaWorld in Orlando announced on its website that officials “anticipate altered hours due to Hurricane Matthew.”

In Melbourne Beach, Florida, Carlos and April Medina wanted to get a jump start on the evacuation order issued for barrier islands. They moved their paddle board and kayak inside the garage. They took down pictures on the walls and wrapped the frames in blankets on their bed before hopping in a truck filled with legal documents, jewelry and a decorative carved shell that had once belonged to April Medina’s great-grandfather. They headed west to Orlando.

Government officials are worried about complacency, especially in South Florida, which hasn’t seen a major hurricane — a Category 3 or higher — in 11 years.

Hurricane Hermine hit the eastern Panhandle on Sept. 2 as a Category 1 storm, causing one death, storm surge damage to beachfront homes and downed trees and powerlines. That was the first hurricane to strike Florida since Wilma — a Category 3 — slammed into the coast in 2005. The 11-year lull between Hermine and Wilma was the longest on record for Florida.

Governors in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina declared states of emergency.

In rural Turbeville, South Carolina, farmer Jeremy Cannon said he waited too long last year and watched his soybeans and cotton crops slowly drown as 20 inches of rain fell on his fields. This year he is taking no chances with Hurricane Matthew and will harvest about a week early.

This is the third year in a row weather is threatening the livelihood of this 35-year-old fourth generation farmer. Drought hurt him badly in 2014, and the massive flood last year set him back $800,000, which he didn’t come close to covering through insurance and some aid from the state.

“The Lord says pray without ceasing. And that’s what I’ve been doing — in the fields, near the barn — just praying all the time. I don’t want to find out what I’ll have to do if I get wiped out for another year,” Cannon said.

Kay reported from Miami Beach. Associated Press reporters Jeffrey Collins, Jack Jones and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina; Bruce Smith in Charleston, South Carolina; Mike Schneider in Melbourne Beach, Florida; and Freida Frisaro in Miami contributed to this report.</s>Hurricane Matthew is heading toward Florida, with Miami officially under a tropical storm watch as of 11 a.m. today. NOAA issued the watch, which runs from the Seven Mile Bridge in the Keys to Deerfield Beach in Broward County. A hurricane watch has been issued from Deerfield Beach north to the Volusia/Brevard County line. Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency for the entire state.

That means now is the time to prepare for the storm by purchasing edibles. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, you should plan to have one gallon of water per person, per day, with extra water for pets, babies, mixing food, and sanitation.

You should also have three to seven days' worth of food for each member in the household. Canned tuna, juices, soup, crackers, granola bars, dried fruit, peanut butter, soft drinks, and pet food are all good options.

Now is also the time to plan the rest of the week. Right now, most shops and restaurants are open business as usual, though some have begun to postpone events.

Here's a list of any hurricane-related changes to restaurants, bars, stores, and food-related events in Miami. We'll update this post with any new information as the storm moves closer.

If you are a restaurant owner or know of any hurricane-related changes (or hurricane parties), or simply want people to know you are staying open during the storm, shoot an email to laine.doss@miaminewtimes.com to be included in this list.

Coral Gables Oktoberfest at Fritz & Franz Bierhaus

 As of now, Fritz & Franz Bierhaus will celebrate Oktoberfest, with no cancellations. According to Chris at the restaurant, "the tents are up, and we're going to ride out the storm." Oktoberfest runs from noon to midnight Monday through Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday through October 9, and admission is free.

Craft Spirits Festival

 The grand tasting event, originally planned for this Thursday, October 6, at Coconut Grove's Cruz Building has been postponed until Thursday, October 13, from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Organizer Frank Moreno says, "There's nothing we can do about the weather, and we want people to be safe." Tickets will be valid for the new date, and more details can be found at craftspiritsfest.com.

VeritageMiami

 The multiday fundraiser for the United Way is postponing only its outdoor events, according to organizers. Both the Craft Beer Tasting, scheduled for Wednesday, October 5, at Wynwood Walls, and the Fine Wine Tasting, scheduled for Thursday, October 6, at the Shops at Merrick Park, have been postponed until spring 2017. VeritageMiami issued the following statement:



Tropical Storm Watch was issued for most of South Florida, predicting significant rain and wind for South Florida on both Wednesday and Thursday – the days of our Craft Beer Tasting at Wynwood Walls and Fine Wine Tasting at Shops at Merrick Park. Therefore, out of an abundance of caution and out of respect to our participating breweries, wineries and restaurants and all of our guests, we are going to postpone these two tasting events until next spring. We want everyone who participates to enjoy a quality experience and we are concerned that may not be possible given the uncertainty of Hurricane Matthew at this point. We believe postponing both events is the safest as well as smartest decision at this time. We will proceed as planned with Friday’s Interactive Dinner and Sunday’s Auction & Bubbly Brunch as both of those events take place indoors. Should Wednesday and Thursday turn out to be clear South Florida evenings, we encourage you to go out and support one of the restaurants that has so generously supported VeritageMiami, and keep in your thoughts our Caribbean neighbors who may need our help in Matthew’s aftermath.

Miami's indoor events are still on, including the VeritageMiami Interactive Dinner this Friday, October 7, at Matador Room. The signature event, which expects more than 700 guests, will be hosted by chef Jeremy Ford.

The VeritageMiami Bubbly Brunch, held Sunday, October 9, at the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne, is also unaffected by the storm. Hosted by 50 Eggs' John Kunkel, the inaugural brunch will feature fare from his restaurants Yardbird Southern Table & Bar, Swine Southern Table & Bar, and the newly opened Spring Chicken, served with plenty of wine and champagne.

Tickets for the events and updated information about VeritageMaimi can be found at veritagemiami.com.</s>Hurricane Matthew gained new fury as it hammered the central Bahamas early Thursday, and forecasters said the life-threatening storm is expected to strengthen as it approaches Florida’s heavily populated Atlantic coast.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Matthew, though still a dangerous Category 3 hurricane as the day dawned, was expected to regain status as an even more powerful Category 4 storm in coming hours. Top sustained winds ratcheted up from 115 mph to 125 mph overnight.

As the threat from the major hurricane rose along the Southeast seacoast, the centre extended a hurricane warning area on a large swath of Florida’s east coast farther up to Altamaha Sound, Georgia. And it said a newly expanded hurricane watch area would now reach from the Altamaha Sound to the South Santee River in South Carolina.

In photos: Haiti and Cuba pummelled by Hurricane Matthew

As Matthew put the U.S. in its sights, about 2 million people were encouraged to head inland ahead of the most powerful storm to threaten the Atlantic coast in more than a decade. Matthew killed at least 16 people in the Caribbean as it cut through Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas.

The storm is forecast to near the Florida coast starting Thursday night, potentially as a Category 4 storm with 130 mph winds. Any slight deviation could mean landfall or it heading farther out to sea. Either way, forecasters say it will come close enough to wreak havoc along the lower part of the East Coast, dumping up to 15 inches in rain in some spots. Storm surge of 5 feet to 8 feet was expected along the coast from central Florida into Georgia.

None of this mattered to John Long, who lives in the Florida town of Cape Canaveral.

“The hype is going to be worse than the actual storm. I feel I can do quite well,” said Long, who owns a bike shop and plans to ride out the storm with his cat in his 32-foot recreational vehicle a half-mile from the ocean. He has lived in the Space Coast area for three decades. “There’s always tremendous buildup and then it’s no stronger than an afternoon thunderstorm. I’m not anticipating that much damage,” he said Wednesday.

“This is a dangerous storm,” Scott said. “The storm has already killed people. We should expect the same impact in Florida.”

Similar warnings were issued in Georgia and the Carolinas, where the storm is expected to arrive by the weekend. The last Category 3 storm or higher to hit the United States was Wilma in October 2005. It made landfall with 120 mph winds in southwest Florida, killing five people as it slashed across the state.

In South Carolina, Gov. Nikki Haley reversed the lanes of Interstate 26 for the first time on Wednesday so that all lanes of traffic were headed west and out of Charleston. Plans to reverse the lanes were put in place after hourslong traffic jams during Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

Haley planned to call for more evacuations Thursday, which would bring the total to about 500,000 people in the state. Florida urged or ordered about 1.5 million to leave the coast, said Jackie Schutz, spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Scott. About 50,000 people were told to go in Georgia.

On Tybee Island, home to Georgia’s largest public beach, Loren Kook was loading up his pickup truck with suitcases and a computer late Wednesday afternoon. He and his wife were trying to decide whether to board up their windows overlooking the marsh grasses of Horsepen Creek before hitting the road to metro Atlanta.

“It seems like a lot of the longtime residents are staying,” said Kook, who moved to the coast four years ago. “I’ve never sat through a Category Whatever. I’ll watch it on TV.”

Early Thursday, Matthew’s centre was about 255 miles southeast of West Palm Beach, Florida, and slogging ever closer at a clip of 12 mph.

Yet despite evacuation orders and dire warnings, Robert and Georgette Tyler said they were staying put in their 500-square foot rental home in Cape Canaveral, undeterred that Matthew might soon be pounding at their door.

Taking a break from putting plywood on windows, Robert Tyler said he feared getting stuck in traffic and that it was too much trouble to pack up his motorcycles and firearms. He has two generators, 50 gallons of fuel and enough food and water for a week. Plus, he is a handyman and his phone will be ringing off the hook once the storm passes.

“It’s part of Florida life I guess, especially on the coast,” he said.
Hurricane Matthew kills at least 26 people on the island of Hispaniola; 22 in Haiti and four more in the Dominican Republic. The U.S. National Hurricane Center predicts the storm, currently a Category 3 with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 km/h), will strengthen as it moves across the Bahamas tonight and tomorrow, and be near the east coast of Florida by tomorrow evening.