Hurricane Matthew: Millions of Americans flee homes in wake of 'worst Caribbean storm in a decade'

Chloe Chaplain6 October 2016

Millions of people on American's south-east coast have fled their homes in the wake of the most powerful Caribbean hurricane in almost a decade.

Roads in Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina were gridlocked and petrol stations and food stores ransacked as Hurricane Matthew approached.

Matthew, which killed more than 100 people and damaged swathes of homes in southern Haiti, has grown in intensity since hitting the Bahamas on Thursday morning.

The storm carries winds of about 115 miles per hour and is predicted to strengthen from a Category 3 to 4 en route to eastern Florida.

Homes destroyed: Devastation caused by the hurricane in Cite-Soleil in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
REUTERS

"Everyone in our state must prepare now for a direct hit," Florida Governor Scott told a news conference in Tallahassee yesterday.

"If Matthew directly impacts Florida, the destruction could be catastrophic and you need to be prepared."

Officials have declared a state of emergency and have opened shelters and launched emergency response teams.

President Obama urged residents to evacuate their homes and said officials were stockpiling supplies of food, water and waterproof coverings

Schools and airports across the region have been closed and some hospitals evacuated, according to local media.

In Florida, fuel stations posted "out of gas" signs after cars waited in long lines to fill up.

Powerful storm: Matthew killed at least 26 people and damaged swathes of homes in southern Haiti

Motorist Charles Bivona tweeted: "Every gas station I went to is empty.

"Here comes Hurricane Matthew. Um, yikes."

Dramatic footage from local media showed people emptying grocery store shelves as they stocked up on water, milk and canned goods.

Hurricane Matthew hits Haiti

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Residents and business owners boarded up windows with plywood and hurricane shutters and placed sandbags down to protect property against flooding.

The National Hurricane Center said it was still too soon to predict where in the United States Matthew was likely to do the most damage.

On Tuesday and Wednesday the storm whipped Cuba and Haiti with 140 mile-per-hour (230 kph) winds and torrential rains, pummeling towns and destroying livestock, crops and homes .

The devastation in Haiti prompted authorities to postpone a presidential election.

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