| Hurricane Matthew will hit Florida today. Here's what you need to know: |
| • When: Late Thursday, close to midnight. That's when Matthew will make landfall in the U.S. The storm was centered about 180 miles southeast of West Palm Beach, Fla., at 11 a.m. ET Thursday. It's moving northwest toward the state at 14 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Forecasters say the first outer rain bands from Hurricane Matthew have already begun to approach Florida as the big storm crosses the Bahamas toward the state. |
| • How bad will the storm be when it hits? The National Hurricane Center upgraded Matthew to an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph. |
| • What's the path? In addition to Florida, the governors of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina have also declared states of emergency and called for evacuations. |
| • The gas situation: Don't be greedy, says Fla. Gov. Rick Scott. There are some empty gas stations - about 1.5 million Floridians are under evacuation orders - but Florida has a six-day supply of gas even if all ports close. |
| • Flight cancellations are piling up. As of Thursday morning, airlines had canceled nearly 2,700 flights - many preemptively - through Friday in anticipation of the storm. All flights have halted at Fort Lauderdale and Orlando Sanford. Miami is technically open, but it said most of its flights would be grounded around noon. Orlando International announced it would stop operations at 8 p.m. ET Thursday. |
| • Sports: High school football games have been rescheduled and college and pro teams are examining whether to do the same. |
| • Let's not forget about the damage already done. Matthew has been blamed for at least 29 deaths in Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas. Thousands are seeking shelter in Haiti, but Haiti Ambassador Paul Altidor said the damage is nowhere near the level of disaster the country endured in the 2010 earthquake, in which more than 200,000 died. |
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