Washington: President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Florida as Hurricane Matthew strengthened and headed for the US Southeast, the White House said on Thursday.
The action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts necessitated by the storm, a Category 4 hurricane packing winds of 220 kmph.
Leaving more than 100 dead in its wake across the Caribbean, Hurricane Matthew steamed toward heavily populated Florida with terrifying winds of 140 mph Thursday, and 2 million people across the Southeast were warned to flee inland.
It was the most powerful storm to threaten the US Atlantic coast in more than a decade.
The hurricane gained fury as it closed in, growing from a possibly devastating Category 3 storm to a potentially catastrophic Category 4 by late morning.
It was expected to scrape nearly the entire length of Florida's Atlantic coast beginning Thursday evening. From there, forecasters said, it was expected to push along the coast of Georgia and South Carolina before veering out to sea.
Millions of people in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina were told to head for safety, and interstate highways were turned into one-way routes to speed the exodus. Scott said Florida could be looking at its biggest evacuation ever.
Many boarded up their homes and businesses and left them to the mercy of the storm.
Forecasters said Matthew'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. More than 1.3 million people live in Palm Beach County and about 568,000 in Brevard County, home to Cape Canaveral and Nasa's Kennedy Space Center.
The last Category 3 storm or higher to hit the US was Wilma in October 2005. It sliced across Florida with 120 mph winds, killing five people and causing an estimated $21 billion in damage.
The action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts necessitated by the storm, a Category 4 hurricane packing winds of 220 kmph.
Leaving more than 100 dead in its wake across the Caribbean, Hurricane Matthew steamed toward heavily populated Florida with terrifying winds of 140 mph Thursday, and 2 million people across the Southeast were warned to flee inland.
It was the most powerful storm to threaten the US Atlantic coast in more than a decade.
The hurricane gained fury as it closed in, growing from a possibly devastating Category 3 storm to a potentially catastrophic Category 4 by late morning.
It was expected to scrape nearly the entire length of Florida's Atlantic coast beginning Thursday evening. From there, forecasters said, it was expected to push along the coast of Georgia and South Carolina before veering out to sea.
Millions of people in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina were told to head for safety, and interstate highways were turned into one-way routes to speed the exodus. Scott said Florida could be looking at its biggest evacuation ever.
Many boarded up their homes and businesses and left them to the mercy of the storm.
Forecasters said Matthew'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. More than 1.3 million people live in Palm Beach County and about 568,000 in Brevard County, home to Cape Canaveral and Nasa's Kennedy Space Center.
The last Category 3 storm or higher to hit the US was Wilma in October 2005. It sliced across Florida with 120 mph winds, killing five people and causing an estimated $21 billion in damage.