North Carolina Floods Following Hurricane Matthew Traps Hundreds

Floodwaters swamped North Carolina towns on Monday as rescuers assisted hundreds of residents on Monday in the wake of Hurricane Matthews. Officials also cautioned that life-threatening flooding from mushroomed rivers would continue for days.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday that some villages and towns in Haiti had just been wiped out. The hurricane killed close to 1,000 people in the impoverished nation.

In the United States, the amount of casualties climbed to at least 23, with almost half in North Carolina.

North Carolina received as much as 18 inches (39cm) of rain over the weekend but skies were clear on Monday. Raging rivers and breached levees, however, remain major problems.

Eleven people died in the state and with rivers getting higher, the governor said he anticipated an increase in fatalities.

The White House said in a statement that the flooding provoked President Obama to declare a state of emergency in North Carolina on Monday. This makes funding accessible to affected individuals in ten counties damaged by the storm.

Governor Pat McCrory said that water and air rescues would carry on throughout the day. They counted around 2,000 residents trapped in their homes and on rooftops in Lumberton, off the Lumber River.

See Related News: As Matthew Departs, Battered Cities Focus on Recovery and Flood Control

More flooding expected

Central and eastern towns along the Lumber, Neuse, Cape Fear and Tar rivers expected major flooding. The National Weather Service forecast disastrous flooding due to anticipated overflowing of the Neuse river on Friday night.

On Monday afternoon, emergency officials in North Carolina’s Lenoir County declared a mandatory evacuation for businesses and residents near the Neuse River.

Several inland and coastal communities remained under water from storm surge or swarming rivers and creeks.

Governor Nikki Haley, in neighboring South Carolina, alerted that waterways were rapidly reaching capacity around the state.

Emergency services reported three storm-related deaths in her state, she said.

Downed power lines also elicited warnings as around 715,000 businesses and homes were without power on Monday night in North and South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Florida.

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Hurricane Matthew – 400 confirmed dead and body count still rising

The death toll in Haiti caused by Hurricane Matthew – the most devastating hurricane in a decade – has reached 400 and is expected to climb even higher.

It has left a trail of death and destruction in its path with hundreds of thousands of the people on the island left homeless.

Senator Herve Fourcand from southern Haiti says “at least” 400 people are dead with unconfirmed reports putting the death toll at 478.

It has been estimated by aid organisations that at least 350,000 people are urgently in need of assistance throughout Haiti.

Killed

A top priority is to get phone networks back up and running and aid workers are very concerned about a surge in cholera cases, with the sanitation system in Haiti already overwhelmed.

In Sud province 30,000 homes were flattened, the city of Jeremie suffered the destruction of 80% of its buildings and 50 people were reported killed in the town of Roche-a-Bateau alone.

The nearby city of Jeremie saw 80% of its buildings levelled. In Sud province 30,000 homes were destroyed.

Most of those killed lived in fishing villages and small towns around the southern coast where falling trees, flying debris and swollen rivers all added to the death toll.

Collapse

Phone coverage and electricity is down in large parts of Haiti, people are running out of food and water  and the collapse of a vital bridge combined with torrential flooding is hampering rescue operations.

The Red Cross has launched an emergency appeal for $6.9m to provide medical, shelter, water and sanitation assistance to 50,000 people while the US is sending nine military helicopters to help deliver food and water to the hardest-hit areas.

Meanwhile Matthew is currently battering the coastline of Florida with sustained winds of 120mph and this morning it was hugging the Florida coast, about 35 miles east of Daytona Beach.

Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina have all declared states of emergencies and at least three million inhabitants have been ordered to evacuate their homes.

More than half a million homes have lost power in Florida and the biggest fear now is the possibility of storm surges of 9ft or more.

Exactly what Hurricane Matthew will do next remains uncertain but the latest predictions suggest that it will hug the coast of Georgia and South Carolina over the weekend before heading out to sea.

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Hurricane Matthew – State of Emergency in Florida as Governor warns: “This Will Kill You”

As Florida braces itself for the impact of Hurricane Matthew, Governor Rick Scott issued a dire warning to residents: “This will kill you.”

President Obama has already declared a State of Emergency for Florida and the National Weather Service fears that the hurricane could leave parts of the state “uninhabitable for weeks.”

Latest forecast models predict that Palm Beach County will be worst hit by Matthew which has already claimed the lives of more than 100 people.

Reuters said the death toll was at least 102 with 98 of those in Haiti alone – many of which were killed by falling trees, flying debris and swollen rivers.

Do not surf

It is unclear exactly what path Matthew will take, but if it does make landfall it will be the first hurricane to hit Florida directly since 2005.

Governor Scott said today: “Do not surf. Do not go on the beach. This will kill you.”He also warned of widespread power outages as the National Weather Service predicted that waves from the storm could reach up to 18 feet and warned of severe coastal surging.

Schools across most of Florida are closed, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is closed as are Orlando’s Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, SeaWorld, and LEGOLAND.

The National Weather Service warned: “Extremely dangerous, life-threatening weather conditions are forecast.

Extreme

“The center of Hurricane Matthew containing the strongest wind gusts, storm surge and heavy rain squalls will move along or over portions of the east central Florida coastline very early Friday morning and into the afternoon.

It warned that:

• Widespread extensive to devastating wind impacts will be felt.
• Airborne debris lofted by extreme winds will be capable of breaching structures, unprotected windows and vehicles.
• Effects such as these ranging from the coast to well inland have not been experienced in central Florida in decades.
• Local winds will exceed what occurred during the hurricanes of 2004.
• Travel will be strongly discouraged beginning at dusk.
• Expect widespread power outages.
• Failure to adequately shelter may result in serious injury, loss of life or immense human suffering.

A number of mandatory evacuation orders are in effect throughout Florida and tolls have been lifted on all roads necessary for evacuation.

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Hurricane Matthew Hits Haiti

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Seven confirmed dead as Hurricane Matthew batters Haiti with 145mph winds

Hurricane Matthew – Haiti braced for imminent catastrophic strike

Hurricane Matthew, the most powerful Atlantic tropical storm since 2007, is set to make a potentially devastating and catastrophic strike on Haiti, eastern Cuba, and the Bahamas.

Millions of people are bracing themselves for what could be life threatening flash floods and mudslides caused by the Category 4 hurricane which is on course to strike Haiti tonight or Tuesday.

A hurricane watch is in effect in the northwest Bahamas while coastal southeastern US states could feel the effect of Matthew later this week and into the weekend.

Domenica Davis, a Weather Channel meteorologist, said: “This is shaping up to be a devastating blow, especially to places like Haiti and Cuba.”

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned: “While there remains significant uncertainty in the track of Matthew in the long range, the threat to Florida and the southeastern U.S. coast has increased.”

Hurricane watches continue for the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Cuban province of Camaguey, and have now been extended to include the northwestern Bahamas, including the Abacos, Andros Island, Berry Islands, Bimini, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama Island and New Providence.

The NHC said Matthew, with maximum sustained winds near 130 mph, was “extremely dangerous,” especially as conditions looked right for it to maintain its strength.

Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist for The Weather Channel, said: “It’s kind of a resilient hurricane — it hasn’t really wavered much in terms of its strength.

“It’s a little bit unusual to go 48 hours with a category 4 or 5 hurricane and not to see some sort of fluctuation.”

Haiti, where up to 25 inches of rain is expected,has started to evacuate residents from outlying islands which could be hit by up to 40 inches of rain.

Meanwhile the U.S. Agency for International Development has deployed two disaster response teams to Haiti and Jamaica.

It is not yet known for certain whether the hurricane will head for the east coast of the USA or make its way out to sea.

However Florida governor Rick Scott urged residents to be prepared for “impacts that we have not seen in many years,” if the hurricane hits.

Matthew has killed at least two people so far: a 67-year-old man who was swept away by a stream in Uribia, Colombia, and a 16-year-old boy who was crushed by a boulder on the island of St. Vincent.

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