As of 5 PM EDT Hurricane Matthew remains a deadly Category 4 storm with winds gusting over 160 MPH as it continued moving toward the central Florida coastline. The National Hurricane Center has issued a Hurricane Warning for the affected region. Much of Florida’s east coast is subject to mandatory evacuation. All tolls have been suspended throughout the state to facilitate travel. Some shelters are said to be filling up in Brevard and neighboring counties.
Matthew could still veer away a bit and/or weaken slightly, or it could intensify toward the threshold of Category 5, by the time it makes what is being called partial landfall, i.e., closest approach. The latest track indicates that will likely be just north of Melbourne at about 7 AM on Friday.
Cocoa Beach, Merritt Island, Port Canaveral, Kennedy Space Center, and Daytona Beach are among the places expected to take the worst hits starting tomorrow morning. The max surge is predicted to be between 5 and 10 feet, centered on Daytona, with large wave tops well above that. Implying some of these places will be partly or completely submerged while suffering sustained winds of 100 MPH or more for several hours. All homes, buildings, and especially RV and mobile home parks in this region are at extreme risk. Do not under estimate the unique danger posed by this storm.
The storm is forecast to track parallel to and just off the coast for the next 24 hours after passing KSC, past Daytona and Jacksonville, then turning slightly and following the northeastern curve of the lower Georgia and South Carolina coasts almost perfectly, before finally arcing out to sea. Remaining residents in the these areas are urged to evacuate while there is still time.
There is now also a chance that Matthew—or what’s left of it—could then boomerang back and hit the same soon-to-be-ravaged coastal areas again early next week greatly complicating relief efforts. An event that would be unprecedented in recent storm history.