South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley ordered an evacuation of all coastal communities starting on Wednesday afternoon in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew, an area inhabited by more than a million people.

She advised people to get 100 miles (160 km) away from the coast. "We don't do voluntary or mandatory anymore. An evacuation is an evacuation," Haley told reporters. </s> CHARLESTON, S.C. — South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and ordered an evacuation of more than a million people in coastal areas starting Wednesday afternoon in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew.

Florida and Georgia have also called states of emergency for a storm that has pounded the Caribbean with 145 mile-per-hour winds and surging seas and was expected to start affecting U.S. coastal areas late on Thursday or early Friday.

Haley pleaded with people to get 100 miles away from the coast, but did not say if there would be penalties for those who refuse to comply.

"We don't do voluntary or mandatory anymore. An evacuation is an evacuation," Haley told reporters.

By declaring a state of emergency, Haley can mobilize 1,800 members of the National Guard.

Highways will have all traffic lanes directed away from the coast for the evacuation, and the state will close schools and county government offices in 26 of the state's 46 counties staring Wednesday.

Matthew will be a Category 2 or Category 3 hurricane when it brushes or hits South Carolina on Friday night, she said. Officials anticipate 100 mph winds and five- to seven-foot storm surges in coastal South Carolina, she said.

Heavy storms in South Carolina last October killed at least 17 people.

Several coastal schools, universities and municipalities, including the city of North Charleston, announced they would close starting on Wednesday.

Emergency officials in the Myrtle Beach area advised residents of evacuation zones and routes.

Florida Governor Rick Scott, who declared a state of emergency for all 67 counties on Monday, has activated 200 members of the Florida National Guard to support any needed hurricane response and put another 6,000 on standby.

Other state agencies prepared by ensuring fuel supplies in potential evacuation zones, readying shelters and highways to handle any evacuees, and taking inventory of emergency food supplies in state schools and warehouses.

In Georgia, Governor Nathan Deal issued a state of emergency for 13 counties in coastal areas.

"I've ordered the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMHSA) to work with appropriate state and local agencies to ensure all precautions are taken to protect residents and minimize risks to property and roads," Deal said in a statement. </s> Motorists line up at a gas station in Mount Pleasant, S.C., on Tuesday to fill their gas tanks in advance of Hurricane Matthew which is expected to affect the South Carolina coast by the weekend. Gov. Nikki Haley announced Tuesday that, unless the track of the storm changes, the state will issue an evacuation order Wednesday to help get 1 million people inland from the coast. (AP Photo/Bruce Smith) </s> A storm track by the National Hurricane Center shows the path Hurricane Matthew is expected to take through Sunday. Forecasters said it may deliver a direct hit on the coasts of North and South Carolina. Image courtesy National Hurricane Center

COLUMBIA, S.C., Oct. 4 (UPI) -- More than a million residents who live near the South Carolina coast should get at least 100 miles away from their homes before Hurricane Matthew arrives, Gov. Nikki Haley said Tuesday.

During a news conference, Gov. Haley said the storm's greatest impact is expected Friday and early Saturday and could mean big trouble.

"I would love nothing more than to see this just suddenly take a right hand turn and head back out to sea, but as of right now, we're looking at Friday night into Saturday being pretty brutal," she said.

"It's not going to be a fast evacuation, but what we ask is that you be patient and understand that it could take up to several hours," she added. "If you can leave early, do that."

Haley advised about 1.1 million people who live in the state's coastal areas to leave by the time the category 4 hurricane arrives.

The governor did not specify what type of evacuation she is implementing.

"An evacuation is an evacuation," she said, adding that coastal residents should move at least 100 miles inland.

To aid the evacuations, Haley said lane reversals on highways near the coastlines, including the Interstate 26 corridor, will begin at 3 p.m. EDT Wednesday.

Haley said the time of the evacuation could change if Matthew alters course or the expected weather conditions improve or worsen.

Officials plan to send hundreds of buses to the coast to shuttle some of the residents away from Matthew's path.

Forecasters said Tuesday that the storm's track shows it could deliver a direct hit on the Carolinas this weekend. </s> S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley said coastal evacuations and school closings will start Wednesday.

Haley urged residents evacuating coastal communities to make sure they had a full tank of gasoline.

The goal is to make sure S.C. residents get 100 miles away from the coast, Haley said.

All of the coastal schools will be closed including in the following counties: Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Clarendon, Colleton, Darlington, Dillon, Dorchester, Florence, Gerogetown, Hampton, Horry, Jasper, Lee, Lexington, Marlboro, Orangeburg, Richland, Sumter, and Williamsburg.

Officials expect to evacuate 1.1 million residents from the coast. As a result, evacuations will not be fast and Haley asked residents to be patient and understand it could take several hours.

"You don't want to be caught in this,” Haley said. “If you don't get out in time, you might get stuck."

Lane reversals are planned from roads heading out of Charleston to start at 3 p.m. on Wednesday

Interstate 26 eastbound will be reversed, with traffic heading away from the cost until the intersection of I-26 and I-77 in Columbia. That means commuters in Columbia will not be able to travel I-26 eastbound out of Columbia. However, interstates will be functioning normally northwest of Columbia.

Haley called on Midlands residents to understand that traffic will snarl as coastal-area residents head inland.

Haley said she called for a state of emergency in South Carolina at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Governor Haley and state emergency officials plan to reassess their evacuation plan Wednesday morning.

The powerful category 4 storm made landfall in Haiti Tuesday and could hit South Carolina’s coast Saturday. </s> South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley says she plans to issue an evacuation order Wednesday ahead of Hurricane Matthew so that 1 million people can safely and comfortably leave the coast.

Haley said at a Tuesday news conference that she will finalize the order Wednesday morning, unless there is a major shift in the storm’s track. Haley says she expects the evacuation to begin at 3 p.m. EDT Wednesday.

State officials say lanes on major evacuation routes will be reversed. It would be the first major evacuation since Hurricane Floyd in 1999, when the governor at the time didn’t reverse the lanes and Interstate 26 became backed up for hours and traffic was at a standstill. A two-hour drive from Charleston to Columbia turned into 24-hour nightmare.

U.S. President Barack Obama will speak Wednesday at the Federal Emergency Management Agency about the federal response to Hurricane Matthew.

Obama had been scheduled to travel to Florida on Wednesday for campaign events and a health care event. But the White House says the trip is being postponed because of the hurricane.

Instead, Obama will travel to the agency’s Washington headquarters to meet with officials coordinating the response. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate will brief Obama on the latest developments if scheduling allows.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest says Obama will be updated on the weather forecast and on operational aspects of preparing for the impacts of the severe weather.

The White House says that U.S. President Barack Obama has been updated on the path of Hurricane Matthew and its potential impact in the Caribbean and the United States.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday that federal officials have been deployed to state emergency operations centers in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Earnest also says relief supplies have been prepositioned in the region.

The White House also says that U.S. foreign disaster assistance teams have been deployed to Haiti, Jamaica and the Bahamas to ensure that relief efforts are coordinated if U.S. assistance is needed.

Earnest also says that regional response coordination centers in Atlanta and Philadelphia will begin round-the-clock operations Tuesday. And the national response coordination center in Washington will begin 24-hour operations with full staffing on Thursday.

Earnest says relief supplies are being moved into Albany, Georgia and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, so they can be delivered to affected areas quickly after the storm has passed.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott says residents need to be prepared for a direct from Hurricane Matthew.

Scott said while visiting the Daytona Beach area that evacuation orders could be issued as early as Tuesday.

He says Florida could start to feel the hurricane’s impact in two or three days.

The governor says his biggest worry is that residents won’t take seriously the threat from Matthew if an evacuation order is issued, especially since so many new residents have never lived through a hurricane.

Scott says even if Matthew stays of land, Florida will still feel tropical storm-force winds.

He says 200 National Guardsmen have been activated, and another 6,600 National Guardsmen are at the ready.

Hurricane Matthew is expected to interrupt mosquito control efforts to stop the spread of the Zika virus in the Miami area.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Tuesday that spraying pesticides would not be effective in the tropical storm-force winds expected in the region later this week.

Gimenez said mosquitoes aren’t likely to be flying around during the storm, but “the Zika prevention efforts will have to stop during those times.”

Gov. Rick Scott said Florida residents should drain standing water from their properties before and after the hurricane to reduce the threat of mosquito-borne viruses.

State health officials have said Miami Beach is the only area where Zika is currently being transmitted, but other infections are being investigated elsewhere in Miami-Dade County and in Palm Beach County.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane watch for South Florida.

The center issued the watch from Deerfield Beach to the Volusia/Brevard county line.

A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within the watch area.

A tropical storm watch also is in effect from the Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys northward to south of Deerfield Beach, including Lake Okeechobee.

Officials in the Dominican Republic are reporting that at least four people died when heavy rains linked to Hurricane Matthew damaged their homes.

Emergency Operations Center coordinator Juan Manuel Mendez told a news conference Tuesday that three children were killed when the walls of their homes collapsed in a poor neighborhood in Santo Domingo. An elderly person died in a neighboring province.

That would bring the total death toll from the storm to at least seven.

Rescue agencies in the country say the downpours have destroyed at least two homes and damaged 190 others. Close to 18,000 people living in vulnerable areas have been evacuated and taken to the homes of relatives or to shelters.

Tropical Storm Nicole has formed in the Atlantic.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami says the storm currently poses no threat to land. Nicole is located about 525 miles (840kmh) northwest of San Juan Puerto Rico. It has maximum sustained winds near 50 mph (85kph) with higher gusts.

Little change in strength is expected for the next day or so, followed by gradual weakening.

With Hurricane Matthew expected to impact the South Carolina coast by the weekend, the American Red Cross is issuing a call for volunteers.

Louise Welch Williams, the CEO of the Palmetto, South Carolina Region of the agency based in North Charleston, said Tuesday the Red Cross needs volunteers in the Charleston, Bluffton and Georgetown areas.

The agency says it especially needs volunteers to assist with sheltering and feeding those who may be affected by the hurricane. The agency said volunteers will likely be needed to help residents across the state of South Carolina.

Projections from the National Hurricane Center show that the storm is expected to be off the South Carolina coast early Saturday with maximum winds of about 100 mph.

Gov. Rick Scott is urging residents up and down Florida’s Interstate 95 corridor to start preparing for “direct impacts” of Hurricane Matthew.

Scott was in the Florida Keys Tuesday morning for a briefing on the Category 4 storm that is currently moving over the southwestern coast of Haiti. The storm is heading toward Cuba and the southeastern coast of Florida.

The governor warned residents to take the storm seriously, adding “we cannot rule out a direct hit.” He says heavy rain, spin off tornadoes, high winds and beach erosion are among the concerns in Florida.

He asked residents to listen for directions from local officials and to “prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”

Scott and other officials are urging people to have at least a three-day supply of food, water and medicine on hand. Also, Scott urged people to get gas in their vehicles and to keep cellphones charged in case of electrical power loss.

National Hurricane Center Director Rick Knabb says Hurricane Matthew will continue to have a devastating impact on Haiti, even after landfall.

Knabb says the storm is about to emerge back over water but there’ll still be heavy rainfall that’s likely to cause flash floods and mudslides, along with strong winds and storm surges.

The hurricane is heading to eastern Cuba, but Knabb says the island’s mountains aren’t expected to have much effect on the storm.

Knabb says tropical storm or hurricane watches may be issued for parts of southeastern Florida later Tuesday. A high pressure ridge is nudging Matthew toward Florida and blocking its path due north from the Bahamas.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the Category 4 storm made landfall around 7 a.m. EDT Tuesday near Les Anglais, Haiti. Matthew’s maximum sustained winds are near 145 mph (230 kph).

The hurricane has pounded the southwestern coast of Haiti, threatening a largely rural corner of the impoverished country with devastating storm conditions as it heads north toward Cuba and the eastern coast of Florida.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott will make several stops at emergency management offices in the Florida Keys, Daytona Beach and north Florida to give updates on Hurricane Matthew and the storm’s potential impact on the state.

Scott will be in Marathon at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, before moving upstate in the afternoon.

The Category 4 storm’s maximum sustained winds are near 145 mph (230 kph) as it crosses the southwest peninsula of Haiti, where it’s bringing life-threatening rain, wind and storm surge.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says another landfall is expected in eastern Cuba. Forecasters say a tropical storm watch or hurricane watch is likely for parts of Florida later Tuesday.

Senior Hurricane Specialist Richard Pasch says Florida residents should remain vigilant because they can’t “rule out the possibility of impacts.”

A hurricane warning has been issued Tuesday morning for the northwest Bahamas as Hurricane Matthew continues its march up the Caribbean.

The hurricane warning in the Bahamas includes the Abacos, Andros Island, Berry Islands, Bimini, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama Island, and New Providence.

In the meantime, Matthew’s eye is nearing the southwest peninsula of Haiti, where it’s bringing life-threatening rain, wind and storm surge.

The Category 4 storm’s maximum sustained winds are near 145 mph (230 kph).

Heavy rain has also fallen on Jamaica and dangerous rainfall is a threat for the Dominican Republic, which adjoins Haiti. </s> ATLANTA, GA. (WATE) — Georgia’s governor is joining other states in doubling down on evacuation orders.

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal issued mandatory evacuation order for city of Savannah, other coastal areas, starting Saturday. Florida Governor Rick Scott said 31,000 people have already evacuated the Florida Keys. He urged urged residents who are still in the area to get out immediately.

“We can’t save you once the storm starts,” said Scott. “You can rebuild your home, get your posesssions again, but you cannot rebuild your life or your family.”

Governor Scott said he has activated an additional 3,000 members of the Florida Army and Air national Guard to prepare for the deadly storm.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMasters says he “intends” to issue an evacuation order for 10 a.m. on Saturday. He said he hopes to make that call on Friday. He said 143 inpatient hospitals and treatment facilities along coastal regions in potential impact zones were ordered to evacuate at 2 p.m. Thursday. </s> CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Some of the South’s most historic cities faced the weakening but still powerful Hurricane Matthew as it plowed north along the Atlantic coast, flooding towns and gouging out roads in its path.

The storm killed at least four people in Florida and knocked out power to more than 1 million homes and businesses, even though its strongest winds stayed just offshore.

Matthew is forecast to move near or over the South Carolina coast Saturday morning, the National Hurricane Center reports. The Category 2 hurricane will near North Carolina’s southern coast by Saturday night, the center says.

“Now is the time we ask for prayer,” Gov. Nikki Haley said as she finished an update on storm preparations and bowed her head.

Matthew — the most powerful hurricane to threaten the Atlantic Seaboard in more than a decade — set off alarms as it closed in on the U.S., having left at least 300 people dead in Haiti.

In the end, it brushed the heavily populated areas of Florida and raked the Georgia coast, including some of the state’s islands such as St. Simons and Tybee.

Steve Todd defied orders to evacuate Tybee even after the mayor called and pleaded with him to leave. As conditions rapidly deteriorated Friday night, Todd wasn’t sounding quite so bold.

“I’m not regretting staying,” Todd said by phone. “But I’m not going to lie: There’s a little bit of nervous tension right now.”

Todd said he was staying with friends at a third-story condo, which had lost electricity.

“It’s throwing down right now,” Todd said. “The trees are bending over. We saw a bush fly by. It’s raining sideways now.”

In Florida, the storm gouged out several large sections of the coastal A1A highway north of Daytona Beach and had nearly completely washed out the northbound lane for about a mile at Flagler Beach.

“It’s pretty bad; it’s jagged all over the place,” said Oliver Shields, whose two-story house is within sight of the highway.

The deaths in Florida included an elderly St. Lucie County couple who died from carbon monoxide fumes while running a generator in their garage and two women who were killed in separate events when trees fell on a home and a camper.

About 500,000 people were under evacuation orders in the Jacksonville area, along with another half-million on the Georgia coast. More than 300,000 fled their homes in South Carolina. The latest forecast showed the storm could also scrape the North Carolina coast.

“We have been very fortunate that Matthew’s strongest winds have remained a short distance offshore of the Florida and Georgia coasts thus far, but this should not be a reason to let down our guard,” the Hurricane Center said in a forecast discussion.

St. Augustine, which is the nation’s oldest permanently occupied European settlement and includes a 17th-century Spanish fortress and many historic homes turned into bed-and-breakfasts, was awash in rain and gray seawater that authorities said could top 8 feet.

“It’s a really serious devastating situation,” Mayor Nancy Shaver said of the city of 14,000. “The flooding is just going to get higher and higher and higher.”

Historic downtown Charleston, usually bustling with tourists, was eerily quiet, with many stores and shops boarded up with plywood and protected by stacks of sandbags.

The city announced a midnight-to-6 a.m. curfew Saturday, about the time the coast was expected to take the brunt of the storm.

Matthew lashed Savannah, a city that was settled in 1733 and has a handsome historic district of moss-draped trees, brick and cobblestone streets, Greek Revival mansions and other 18th- and 19th-century homes.

Matthew was expected to bring winds of 50 to 60 mph that could snap branches from the burly live oaks and damage the historic homes. And 8 to 14 inches of rain could bring some street flooding. The extent of the damage wasn’t clear early Saturday.

A small crew of workers Thursday set out to button up the Owens-Thomas house, one of Savannah’s architectural gems. The 1819 Greek Revival mansion serves as a museum.

Sonja Wallen, a curator, said antique rugs and furniture were moved away from the home’s more than 40 windows, many of them still with their original glass. Windows were fitted with plywood and other coverings, while sandbags were stacked at the basement entrance.

“It’s basically a lot of little details — sandbags and duct tape around doorways where water can get in,” Wallen said. “It’s pretty much the same stuff you would do for any home.”

At 2 a.m. EDT, Matthew had sustained winds of 105 mph (165 kph), and was centered 45 miles (70 kilometers) south of Hilton Head, South Carolina. It was moving north about 12 mph (19 kph).

Airlines canceled at least 5,000 flights Wednesday through Saturday, including many in and out of Orlando, where all three of the resort city’s world-famous theme parks — Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld — closed because of the storm.

But things began getting back to normal, with flights resuming in Miami and other South Florida airports. And power companies in Florida promised that electricity would be almost fully restored by the end of the weekend.

In areas the storm had already passed, residents and officials began to assess the damage.

Robert Tyler had feared the storm surge would flood his street two blocks from the Cape Canaveral beach. Tree branches fell, he could hear transformers exploding overnight, and the windows seemed as if they were about to blow in, despite the plywood over them.

But in the morning, there wasn’t much water, his home didn’t appear to be damaged on first inspection, and his vehicles were unharmed.

“Overnight, it was scary as heck,” Tyler said. “That description of a freight train is pretty accurate.”

Mohr reported from Orlando, Florida; Gary Fineout in Tallahassee, Florida; Kelli Kennedy and Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Jennifer Kay, Freida Frisaro and Curt Anderson in Miami; Marcia Dunn in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Janelle Cogan in Orlando, Florida; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Martha Waggoner in Raleigh, North Carolina; Jeffrey Collins on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; Jack Jones and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina; and Bruce Smith in Charleston, South Carolina, contributed to this report. </s> CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Some 3,000 people checked into shelters across Florida, a judge in coastal Georgia suspended a murder trial and the South Carolina governor prepared to call for more evacuations Thursday as Hurricane Matthew gained new fury on its way to the heavily populated Atlantic coast.

On Wednesday night, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal urged more than 522,000 residents of six coastal counties to voluntarily evacuate with the threat of Hurricane Matthew approaching the region. An evacuation hasn’t been seen in coastal Georgia in 17 years.

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.”

In the coastal Georgia city of Brunswick, a judge suspended the murder trial for a man accused of leaving his son to die in a hot car until Monday because of the impending storm, giving jurors a four-day weekend.

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 the Sunshine State, the Florida Division of Emergency Management said 48 shelters set up in schools already are providing for just over 3,000 people, mostly in coastal counties. Another 13 special needs shelters are currently housing 31 people.

These shelters are in areas where evacuations — either mandatory or voluntary — are underway.

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.

John Long, who lives in the Florida town of Cape Canaveral, said he’s staying put in spite of the warnings.

“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.

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.

Kennedy reported from Fort Lauderdale. Associated Press reporters Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Freida Frisaro in Miami, Jennifer Kay in Miami Beach, Florida; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Martha Waggoner in Raleigh, North Carolina; Jeffrey Collins, Jack Jones and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina; and Bruce Smith in Charleston, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley urges 1.1 million coastal residents to evacuate before Matthew hits this weekend.