CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on Hurricane Matthew (all times local):
9 a.m.
A sheriff’s spokesman says hundreds of callers are dialing 911 as Hurricane Matthew pounds central Florida’s coastline.
Volusia County Sheriff’s spokesman Gary Davidson says at least four callers reported trees falling onto their homes in the Daytona Beach area after 7:30 a.m. Friday.
In one case, Davidson says a neighbor told dispatchers that the family got out safely after a tree collapsed on a home in Daytona Beach.
Another caller reported ceiling damage after a tree fell onto a house in nearby Ormond Beach.
No injuries were reported in any of these cases.
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8:45 a.m.
Rains from the outer bands of Hurricane Matthew are already spinning onto the South Carolina coast. And the National Weather Service says that tropical storm force winds of more than 40 mph will begin raking the coast on Friday afternoon – extending farther into inland areas Friday evening.
Although Matthew is projected to stay offshore, sustained hurricane gusts of 80 mph are expected on the immediate coast. Forecasters say winds from the storm likely will damage trees and weaker structures and bring widespread power outages.
The forecast calls for between 8 and 14 inches of rain in places along the coast with as much as 4 inches in locations father inland. Dangerous waves and rip currents are expected along the coast during the storm with storm surge of 4 to 8 feet.
Meanwhile Joint Base Charleston has been closed until further notice the hurricane approaches. The base consists of Charleston Air Force Base, the Charleston Naval Weapons station and two other facilities near Charleston.
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8:20 a.m.
The time has been set for the Georgia-South Carolina football game in Columbia on Sunday that was rescheduled because of the threat of Hurricane Matthew.
South Carolina officials announced late Thursday that the game will be played at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
The game had been scheduled Saturday night in Columbia but is being delayed because of Hurricane Matthew.
School officials say they consulted with Georgia and the Southeastern Conference before making the decision.
Officials say they are consulting with the governor’s office and state and local law enforcement. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said earlier this week that state troopers would not be available to help with traffic for the game. But Richland County sheriff’s deputies and Columbia police are expected to help.
The school says it will be able to handle traffic, security and other game day operations.
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8 a.m.
Robert Tyler had feared a storm surge flooding his street, which is only two blocks from the Cape Canaveral beach.
But he and his wife, Georgette, felt fortunate Friday morning when they looked out the front door of their one-story cinder block apartment and there wasn’t much water.
The oak trees held up. Tree branches littered the road and he could hear the transformers blowing up overnight. But his home didn’t appear to have damage on first inspection and his vehicles were unharmed.
He says it was “scary as heck” overnight, adding that at one point “it felt like the windows were going to blow even though they all were covered with plywood.”
In the end, he says he’s just “glad we didn’t hear the ocean coming down our street.”
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7:25 a.m.
Officials say people who refused to evacuate from central Florida’s Atlantic coast are calling for help now as Hurricane Matthew’s western eyewall brushes past Cape Canaveral.
Brevard County Emergency Operations spokesman David Waters said early Friday that more than 100,000 people in the area had lost power.
Mandatory evacuation orders had been issued for 90,000 people living on barrier islands and in mobile homes and low-lying areas. Waters says some residents who refused to leave now find themselves cut off as they face the worst of the hurricane.
He says a family called in that the roof “just flew off their home on Merritt Island.”
Waters says people will just have to stay put for now and do the best they can until conditions improve and paramedics and firefighters can be dispatched to help them. He spoke by phone from the county’s emergency operations center, which was running a backup generator because it had lost electricity.
Along with the power outages, the water supply to the barrier islands was cut off to avoid compounding the storm flooding if the system got damaged.
Waters says he has talked to other families who have said things like, “We’re scared. We wish we hadn’t stayed.”
More than 360,000 in Florida are without power Friday morning.
6:10 a.m.
The western edge of Hurricane Matthew’s eyewall is brushing Florida’s coast at Cape Canaveral.
The National Hurricane Center said at 6 a.m. EDT Friday that during the last hour, a wind gust of 100 mph occurred in Cape Canaveral.
The Category 3 storm is centered about 25 miles east of Cape Canaveral and is moving north-northwest at 14 mph.
More than 300,000 in Florida are without power Friday morning.
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5:45 a.m.
In Geneva, the international Red Cross announced an emergency appeal for $6.9 million Friday to provide medical aid, shelter, water, and sanitation assistance to 50,000 people in southwestern Haiti, which was hit hard by Hurricane Matthew.
UNICEF says it needs $5 million to meet children’s immediate needs in Haiti.
The World Food Program said it has enough food on the ground for 300,000 people for a month, and was deploying its best logisticians to help distribute it.
Matthew left more than 280 dead in its wake across the Caribbean and is now battering Florida’s east coast with high winds and rain.
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5:05 a.m.
Hurricane Matthew is just offshore of Florida’s east coast Friday morning.
But the National Hurricane Center says the Category 3 storm’s western eyewall is approaching Cape Canaveral with hurricane-force winds.
As of 5 a.m. EDT Friday, Matthew is centered about 40 miles east-southeast of Cape Canaveral and is moving north-northwest near 13 mph.
More than 270,000 in Florida are without power.
Two million people were warned to flee inland as the most powerful storm to threaten the Atlantic coast in more than a decade charged toward Florida. Matthew left more than 280 dead in its wake across the Caribbean.
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4 a.m.
The western edge of Hurricane Matthew’s eyewall is approaching Cape Canaveral early Friday as the storm batters Florida’s coast with howling wind and driving rain.
The Category 3 storm is threatening to make a direct hit on Florida as it moves up the coast.
But even though the eye is still off-shore, Florida is already seeing strong winds. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says sustained winds of 46 mph and a gust of 70 mph have been reported in Melbourne, Florida.
More than 240,000 in Florida are without power.
Two million people were warned to flee inland as the most powerful storm to threaten the Atlantic coast in more than a decade charged toward Florida. Matthew left more than 280 dead in its wake across the Caribbean.
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2:20 a.m.
Hurricane Matthew’s howling wind and driving rain pummeled Florida early Friday, starting what’s expected to be a ruinous, dayslong battering of the Southeast coast. The strongest winds were just offshore, but Matthew’s wrath still menaced more than 500 miles of coastline.
Matthew weakened slightly Friday morning to a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds near 120 mph. But the U.S. National Hurricane Center says it’s expected to remain a powerful hurricane as it moves closer to Florida’s coast.
Two million people were warned to flee inland as the most powerful storm to threaten the Atlantic coast in more than a decade charged toward Florida. Matthew left more than 280 dead in its wake across the Caribbean.