JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER.
1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.
RUSSIA IS GETTING READY FOR SOMETHING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io7qJK2Vna8
NORTH KOREA NUKE THREATS
http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/breaking-north-korea-just-threatened-nuke-usa/
UPDATE-OCTOBER 09,2016-06:07AM
A TOTAL OF 877 ARE DEAD IN HAITI-5 IN FLORIDA AND 3 IN CAROLINA. AND 3 IN GEORGIA FOR A TOTAL DEAD OF 888 IN THIS HURRICANE MATTHEW SO FAR.
UPDATE-OCTOBER 07,2016-11:25AM
WHAT ON EARTH SUNNI-ARAB MUSLIM OBAMA TOOK TIME OFF FROM HIS MINNY GOLF AND TALKIN WITH HIS MUSLIM ADMINISTRATION AT THE WHITEHOUSE TO ADDRESS THE HURRICANE BRIEFLY. WOW-WERE DID HE FIND THE TIME. AND THERE IS AT LEAST 600,000 WITHOUT POWER IN FLORIDA AND AT LEAST 842 DEAD FROM MATTHEW IN HAITI AND THE OTHER AREAS 12. SO FAR I HAVE HEARD OF 1 DEAD IN FLORIDA SO FAR. FOR A TOTAL OF 855 BY MY COUNT DEAD FROM HURRICANE MATTHEW SO FAR. FLORIDA WILL BE HUMMELED BY 7-11 FOOT STORM SURGES YET TILL AT LEAST 6PM TONIGHT. BEFORE HEADING ONTO SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. UPDATE-OCT 07,16-7:30PM-1.1 MILLION ARE WITHOUT POWER SO FAR-AND 4 ARE NOW DEAD IN FLORIDA BRINGING THE TOTAL DEAD TO 858.
UPDATE-OCTOBER 06,2016-04:34PM
I JUST FIND THE MEDIA AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ARE WAY OVER DOING THIS HURRICANE. I GOT A FEELING THIS HURRICANE IS REALLY A COVER UP FOR POSSIBLY A RUSSIA-USA BATTLE IN THE MIDEAST OR NORTH KOREA IS GOING TO NUKE SOMEBODY. I JUST FIND THE FEAR MONGERING OVER THIS HURRICANE MATTHEW IS JUST TO OVER HYPED. I HOPE THE MEDIA AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ARE LEGITIMATELY CRYING GET OUT FOR YOUR LIVES. BUT I STILL GOT A SMALL VOICE IN MY SPIRIT SAYING THERES SOMETHING ELSE GOING ON AND THIS HURRICANE IS A PERFECT DISTRACTION TO COVER UP THE REAL INCIDENT GOING ON. BUT WE WILL SEE. AFTER THE WEEKEND. I PRAY NOBODY WILL BE KILLED BY THIS HURRICANE THOUGH. AND I PRAY THIS IN KING JESUS' NAME-AMEN AND AMEN-IT IS DONE. AT LEAST 136 PEOPLE DIED IN HAITI FROM HURRICANE MATTHEW. BUT IF THERE IS HUNDREDS DEAD AS A RESULT OF THIS HURRICANE IN FLORIDA AND COASTAL AREAS. IT WILL BE DIRECTLY ON SUNNI-ARAB MUSLIM OBAMAS HEAD FOR ONCE AGAIN TELLING ISRAEL THEY CAN NOT BUILD HOUSES ON THEIR OWN LAND THAT GOD TOLD ISRAEL TO BUILD AND MULTIPLY THE LAND WITH CHILDREN ON. YES-OBAMA THE DEATHS ARE ON YOUR HEAD IF LOTS DIE IN AMERICA AS A RESULT OF HURRICANE MATTHEW AND WHATEVER ELSE DISASTERS COME FROM IT. ITS NOW 8:03PM AND 264 PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN HAITI FROM HURRICANE MATTHEW. AS OF 10:20PM-283 HAVE BEEN KILLED IN THE OTHER COUNTRIES HIT BY MATTHEW IN THIS 100 YEAR HURRICANE.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/06/hurricane-matthew-haiti-rescuers-battle-reach-remote-areas
Weakened Hurricane Matthew still packs potent punch as it hits North Carolina, Virginia-[Reuters]-By Harriet McLeod and Scott Malone-October 9, 2016-YAHOONEWS
CHARLESTON, S.C./SAVANNAH, Ga. (Reuters) - Hurricane Matthew slammed into North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday, packing a diminished yet still potent punch as it caused major flooding and widespread power outages along the U.S. Atlantic coast after killing hundreds in Haiti.Now weakened, the most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007 unleashed torrential rains and powerful winds as it churned slowly north after pummeling the southeastern coast of the United States, killing at least 11 people in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina since Thursday and leaving more than two million businesses and homes without power.Early on Sunday, the storm threatened coastal communities in North Carolina and Virginia, where flash flood warnings were issued and gusts of winds of 75 miles per hour (120 kph) were recorded.“The wind is bending the trees to a 90 degree angle in my backyard, I've lost electrical power in my home and the rain is blowing sideways,” Frank Gianinni, a 59-year-old occupational therapist, said in an email from his home in Wilmington, North Carolina.“Standing outside in my backyard just now, and I’m humbled by the power of nature.”Forecasters warned that widespread flooding was possible from heavy rain - 15 inches (40 cm) was expected to fall in some areas - along with massive storm surges and high tides."We are looking at very significant flooding. Almost every road in the city is impassable," Virginia Beach spokeswoman Erin Sutton told the Weather Channel on Sunday from the city of almost 500,000 people that sits between Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.On Saturday evening, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory had urged residents to stay off roads and sidewalks to avoid "deadly conditions" caused by severe flooding and debris.Local and national media showed footage from throughout the region of motorists and passengers sitting and standing on vehicles stuck in rushing flood waters as crews used swift water boats to rescue the stranded. In Cumberland County, North Carolina alone, more than 500 people had been rescued by crews as of early on Sunday, the Weather Channel reported.As of 2 a.m. EST (0600 GMT) on Sunday, the storm was about 50 miles (80 km) east of Morehead City, North Carolina, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. The center of the storm was set to move near or south of the North Carolina coast early on Sunday and east of the state later in the day as it weakens.Matthew, which topped out as a ferocious Category 5 storm days before and killed at least 877 people in Haiti, has now been downgraded to Category 1.It made U.S. landfall on Saturday near McClellanville, South Carolina, a village 30 miles (48 km) north of Charleston that was devastated by a Category 4 hurricane in 1989.The storm was blamed for at least 11 deaths in the United States - five in Florida, three in North Carolina and three in Georgia, including two people killed by falling trees in Bulloch County, the county coroner said.Power was reported knocked out for more than 2 million households and businesses in the U.S. Southeast, the bulk of those in Florida and South Carolina.The storm-stricken stretch of the Atlantic Coast from Miami to Charleston, a nearly 600-mile drive, encompasses some of the most well-known beaches, resorts and historical towns in the southeastern United States. Parts of Interstate 95, the main north-south thoroughfare on the East Coast, were closed due to flooding and fallen trees, state officials said.Roads in Jackson Beach, Florida, were littered with debris, including chunks from an historic pier dislodged by the storm, with some intersections clogged by up to a foot of standing water. Beachfront businesses suffered moderate damage."We rode out the storm. It wasn't this bad at our house, but here there's a lot of damage," said Zowi Cuartas, 18, as he watched bystanders pick up shattered signs near the beach.Florida Governor Rick Scott said more than 6,000 people stayed in shelters overnight, but he appeared relieved that the state had been spared from greater harm."We're all blessed that Matthew stayed off our coast," he said. He predicted electricity would be restored to most without power by Sunday evening.Streets in downtown Charleston, known for its historic waterfront architecture, were flooded to the tops of tires on some parked cars, and a few residents could be seen wading near the city's sea wall as high tide approached.Some 8 inches (20 cm) of rain fell in the Savannah, Georgia area, downing trees and causing flooding.The National Weather Service said record-high tides were recorded along the Savannah River at the South Carolina-Georgia border, peaking at 12.6 feet, surpassing those from Hurricane David in 1979.Storm damage was far greater in Haiti earlier in the week when Matthew plowed directly into the impoverished Caribbean island nation. Around 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said, after the storm lashed coastal villages in high surf.(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, David Bailey in Minneapolis, Zachary Goelman in Orlando, Fla., David Shepardson in Washington, and Steve Gorman and Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Bernard Orr and Susan Fenton)
Hurricane Matthew death toll nears 900 in Haiti, cholera takes lives-[Reuters]-By Makini Brice and Joseph Guyler Delva-October 8, 2016-YAHOONEWS
CHANTAL, Haiti/PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Hurricane Matthew’s trail of destruction in Haiti stunned those emerging from the aftermath on Friday, with the number of dead soaring to 877, tens of thousands left homeless and outbreaks of cholera already claiming more lives.Information trickled in from remote areas that were cut off by the storm and it became clear that at least 175 people died in villages clustered among the hills and on the coast of Haiti’s fertile western tip.Rural clinics overflowed with patients whose wounds including broken bones had not been treated since the storm hit on Tuesday. Food was scarce and at least seven people died of cholera, likely because of flood water mixing with sewage.The storm razed homes to their foundations. The corrugated metal roofs of those still standing were ripped off, the contents visible from above as if peering into doll’s houses.At least three towns reported dozens of fatalities, including the hilly farming village of Chantal, whose mayor said 86 people were killed, mostly when trees crushed houses. He said 20 more people were missing.“A tree fell on the house and flattened it, the entire house fell on us. I couldn’t get out,” said driver Jean-Pierre Jean-Donald, 27, who had been married for a year.“People came to lift the rubble, and then we saw my wife who had died in the same spot,” said Jean-Donald, his young daughter by his side, crying “Mommy.”The death toll continued to rise on Friday in southwest Haiti. Dozens more were missing, many of them in the Grand'Anse region on the northern side of the peninsula.“We flew over parts of the Grand'Anse region. It’s a humanitarian catastrophe,” said Frenel Kedner, a government official in the town of Jeremie in southwest Haiti. “The people urgently need food, water, medicine.”-CHOLERA CASES RISE-In the town of Anse-d'Hainault, seven people died of cholera, a disease that did not exist in Haiti until U.N. peace keepers introduced it after a 2010 earthquake that killed some 200,000 people.Another 17 cholera cases were reported in Chardonnieres on the south coast.“Due to massive flooding and its impact on water and sanitation infrastructure, cholera cases are expected to surge after Hurricane Matthew and through the normal rainy season until the start of 2017,” the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said in a statement.With fatalities mounting, various government agencies and committees differed on total deaths. A Reuters count of deaths reported by civil protection and local officials put the toll at 877.Haiti’s central civil protection agency, which takes longer to collate numbers because it needs to visually confirm victims itself, said 271 people died as Matthew smashed through the western peninsula on Tuesday with 145 mph (233 kph) winds and torrential rain.Some 61,500 people were in shelters, the agency said.Matthew pushed the sea into fragile coastal villages, some of which are only now being contacted.Coastal town Les Anglais lost “several dozen” people, Louis-Paul Raphael, the central government representative in the region, told Reuters.Les Anglais was the first place in Haiti that Matthew reached, as a powerful Category 4 storm before it moved north, lost strength and lashed central Florida on Friday.With cellphone networks down and roads flooded by sea and river water, aid has been slow to reach towns and villages. Instead, locals have been helping each other.“My house wasn’t destroyed, so I am receiving people, like it’s a temporary shelter,” said Bellony Amazan in the town of Cavaillon, where around a dozen people died. Amazan said she had no food to give people.Outside Chantal, stall holders at a makeshift market were selling vegetables and soft drinks, brought in from Port-Au-Prince as roads were cleared to the capital.“All our houses have been destroyed. This is our existence,” said one stall holder, who declined to give her name.(Reporting by Joseph Guyler Delva; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Simon Gardner and Paul Tait)
Factbox: Hurricane Matthew leaves nearly 1.6 million in U.S. Southeast powerless-[Reuters]-October 8, 2016-YAHOONEWS
Almost 1.6 million homes and businesses were without power on Saturday afternoon as Hurricane Matthew crashed along the coast of South Carolina after battering the Atlantic coast of Florida and Georgia, electric companies said.Matthew, the first major hurricane to hit the United States in more than 10 years, lashed Florida, Georgia and South Carolina with heavy rain and wind, after killing almost 900 people in Haiti as it swept north through the Caribbean.(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Stephen Powell)
Hurricane Matthew slams into South Carolina, diminished but still dangerous-[Reuters]-By Scott Malone and Harriet McLeod-October 8, 2016-YAHOONEWS
JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla./CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - Hurricane Matthew slammed into South Carolina on Saturday, packing a diminished yet still powerful punch after killing almost 900 people in Haiti and causing major flooding and widespread power outages as it skirted Florida and Georgia.The most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007 left flooding and wind damage in Florida before moving north to soak coastal Georgia and the Carolinas. Wind speeds had dropped by nearly half from their peak about a week ago to 75 miles per hour (120 kph), reducing it to a Category 1 hurricane, the weakest on the Saffir-Simpson scale of 1 to 5.Matthew, which topped out as a ferocious Category 5 storm more than a week ago, made landfall near McClellanville, a village 30 miles north of Charleston that was devastated by a Category 4 hurricane in 1989. The National Hurricane Service warned of serious flooding in the area even as the storm slowed as it drove inland.At least five deaths in Florida were attributed to the storm, which knocked out power to almost 1.6 million households and businesses in the southeastern United States. The stretch of the Atlantic coast from Miami to Charleston, a nearly 600-mile drive, encompasses some of the most well-known beaches, resorts and historical towns in the southeastern United States.In Florida, 775,000 were without power, according to state utilities, while in South Carolina 433,000 had no electricity, Governor Nikki Haley said. Georgia Power said at least 275,000 were without power in the state.Roads in Jackson Beach were littered with wood, including sections of a historic pier, and foot-deep (15 cm) water clogged intersections. Beachfront businesses suffered moderate damage."We rode out the storm. It wasn't this bad at our house, but here there's a lot of damage," said Zowi Cuartas, 18, as he watched people pick up shattered signs near the beach. "We were prepared to lose our house."Governor Rick Scott of Florida said more than 6,000 people stayed in shelters overnight but he appeared relieved at a news conference on Saturday the storm had not done more harm."We're all blessed that Matthew stayed off our coast," he said, describing extensive flooding, damaged roads, downed trees and homes without electricity. He predicted most people would have power back by Sunday evening. He did not comment on the reports of four deaths.Streets in downtown Charleston, known for its historic architecture, were flooding up to the tops of tires on some cars and a few residents waded, some barefoot, near the city's sea wall as high tide approached. Tony Williams, 54, who said he is homeless, rode his bicycle in huge wind gusts after spending the night in the covered garage of a bank. "I just got tired of laying where I was laying," he said, adding that he had found a raincoat blowing through a parking lot to keep him dry.On Daufuskie Island near the Georgia border, writer Roger Pinckney, 70, said he was fine on Saturday morning after refusing pleas from officials for residents of low-lying barrier islands to evacuate. "It blew like hell," he said.Charleston officials said they were not aware of any deaths, injuries or significant structural damage. Winds and the threat of surges were expected to diminish through the day, National Weather Service forecaster James Carpenter said by telephone.-DEATH TOLL IN HAITI-The toll in the United States was far less devastating than in Haiti, where at least 877 people died earlier, a death toll that ticked up as information trickled in from remote areas, according to a Reuters tally of tolls from officials.Matthew howled through Haiti's western peninsula on Tuesday with 145 mph (233 kph) winds and torrential rain. Some 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said, after the storm hurled the sea onto coastal villages.The Mesa Verde, a U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock ship, was en route to Haiti to support relief efforts with heavy-lift helicopters, bulldozers, fresh-water delivery vehicles and two operating rooms. The U.S. government was also airlifting blankets, hygiene kits, kitchen sets and plastic sheeting for emergency shelters, according to the United States Agency for International Development.Aid group Doctors Without Borders was flying personnel in by helicopter. The Haitian government warned a deadly outbreak of cholera in Haiti could worsen, confirming dozens of new cases of the water-borne disease reported since the storm, 13 of them fatal.Officials in Florida, which has been grappling with an outbreak of Zika, said they hoped the flooding would not worsen the spread of the mosquito-borne virus, which causes fever and birth deformities."We have got to get rid of standing water as quickly as we can," Governor Scott told reporters.-FLOODS PREDICTED-In North Carolina, which remains in Matthew's path, Governor Pat McCrory warned storm surges and high winds could cause serious problems and was "extremely concerned" the downgrade to a Category 1 would cause people not to take warnings seriously.Forecasters warned of flooding as 15 inches (40 cm) of rain were expected to fall in some areas along with massive storm surges and high tides.Some 8 inches (20 cm) of rain fell in the Savannah, Georgia area, downing trees and causing flooding.Though gradually weakening, Matthew - which triggered mass evacuations along the southeast U.S. coast - was forecast to remain a hurricane until it begins moving away on Sunday, the NHC said.President Barack Obama and officials urged people to heed safety instructions.(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, Zachary Goelman in Orlando, Fla. and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by James Dalgleish)
Over 800 killed by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti, storm lashes Florida-[Reuters]-By Joseph Guyler Delva and Scott Malone-October 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti/DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - Hurricane Matthew killed more than 800 people and left tens of thousands homeless in its rampage through Haiti earlier this week before it lashed Florida on Friday with howling winds and rumbled northward up the U.S. Atlantic coast.The number of deaths in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, surged to at least 842 on Friday as information trickled in from remote areas previously cut off by the storm, according to a Reuters tally of death tolls given by officials.Matthew, the fiercest cyclone to affect the United States since Superstorm Sandy hit the Northeast four years ago, triggered mass evacuations along the coast from Florida through Georgia and into South Carolina and North Carolina.U.S. President Barack Obama urged people not to be complacent and to heed safety instructions in the face of a storm that could be the most severe to strike northeast Florida in more than 100 years.“I just want to emphasize to everybody that this is still a really dangerous hurricane, that the potential for storm surge, loss of life and severe property damage exists," Obama told reporters after a briefing with emergency management officials.Matthew smashed through Haiti's western peninsula on Tuesday with 145 mph (233 kph) winds and torrential rain. Some 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said, after the storm pushed the sea into fragile coastal villages, some of which were only now being contacted.At least three towns in the hills and coast of Haiti's fertile western tip reported dozens of people killed, including the farming village of Chantal where the mayor said 86 people died, mostly when trees crushed houses. He said 20 others were missing."A tree fell on the house and flattened it, the entire house fell on us. I couldn’t get out," said driver Jean-Pierre Jean-Donald, 27, who had been married for only a year."People came to lift the rubble, and then we saw my wife who had died in the same spot," Jean-Donald said, his young daughter by his side, crying "Mommy."With cellphone networks down and roads flooded, aid has been slow to reach hard-hit areas in Haiti. Food was scarce, and at least seven people died of cholera, likely because of flood water mixing with sewage.The Mesa Verde, a U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock ship, was heading for Haiti to support relief efforts. The ship has heavy-lift helicopters, bulldozers, fresh water delivery vehicles and two surgical operating rooms.-ONE DEAD IN FLORIDA-Matthew skirted Florida on Friday morning with winds of up to 120 miles per hour (195 kph), but had not made landfall by afternoon. The U.S. National Hurricane Center later downgraded the storm to a Category 2 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity as its sustained winds dropped to 110 mph. A Category 5 is the strongest.No significant damage was reported in cities and towns in south Florida where the storm brought down trees and power lines. But one person was killed by a falling tree in Volusia County after venturing outside to feed animals during a lull in the storm, said James Dinneen, manager of the county that includes Daytona Beach.Hurricane warnings extended up the Atlantic coast from central Florida through Georgia and South Carolina and into North Carolina.In Daytona Beach, the street under the city's famed "World's Most Famous Beach" sign was clogged with debris washed up by the ocean. The waves had receded by early afternoon but there was damage throughout the city, including a facade ripped off the front of a seaside hotel.The city of Jacksonville could face significant flooding, Governor Rick Scott said. The storm cut power to some 1 million customers in Florida, his office said.Armed guards patrolled the outside of Fox Hill prison in Nassau, the only prison facility in the Bahamas, after the storm knocked down parts of its concrete walls.No deaths were reported from the Bahamas, but residents of Nassau were still without power on Friday.At 5 p.m. (2000 GMT), Matthew's eye, or centre, was brushing the northeast Florida coast near Jacksonville, the NHC said.It was on a path that would likely take it near or over the coast of northeast Florida and Georgia through Friday night and near or over the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.Craig Fugate, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said he was concerned that relatively light damage so far could give people farther up the coast a false sense of security."People should not be looking at the damages they're seeing and saying this storm is not that bad," Fugate told NBC."The real danger still is storm surge, particularly in northern Florida and southern Georgia. These are very vulnerable areas. They've never seen this kind of damage potential since the late 1800s," Fugate said.In Cape Canaveral, Florida, home to the country's main space launch site, the storm downed power lines and trees and destroyed billboards.The U.S. National Weather Service has said it could be the most powerful storm to strike northeast Florida in 118 years.-RELUCTANT TO LEAVE-In St. Augustine just south of Jacksonville, about half of the 14,000 residents refused to heed evacuation orders despite warnings of an eight-foot (2.4- meter) storm surge that could sink entire neighbourhoods, Mayor Nancy Shaver said in a telephone interview from the area’s emergency operations centre.Even as power started to dim and water was shut off in St. Augustine, the oldest U.S. city and a major tourism attraction, residents, especially elderly and the working poor, refused to budge, she said.“There's that whole inability to suspend disbelief that I think really affects people in a time like this,” Shaver said.In addition to those who simply did not believe the storm was a major threat, some of the city’s residents lacked vehicles or other means to evacuate, said Shaver.Lack of means to move was one reason some people stayed in New Orleans before it was hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The storm killed more than 1,800 people there and along the U.S. Gulf Coast.About 22,000 people were in Florida shelters and Georgia and South Carolina also opened dozens of shelters for evacuees.(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Eric Walsh and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Gabriel Stargardter in Miami; Zachary Goelman in Orlando, Fla.; Zachary Fagenson in Wellington, Fla.; Irene Klotz in Portland, Maine; Laila Kearney in New York; Colleen Jenkins in Winston-Salem, N.C.; Neil Hartnell in Nassau; Writing by Frances Kerry; Editing by Alistair Bell and Tom Brown)
Hurricane Matthew's coastal path makes it frightening, experts say-[Reuters]-By Timothy Mclaughlin-October 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
(Reuters) - The coast-hugging path that forecasters expect Hurricane Matthew to take as it moves up the Atlantic seaboard on Friday and Saturday could make the storm one of the most devastating ever to hit the U.S. Southeast, according to experts.If Matthew skirts the coast of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina as experts expect, rather than slamming directly into land as most hurricanes do, the storm would keep drawing energy from the warm ocean waters, fuelling its destructive force."Once they make landfall, they will dissipate, but in the case of Matthew, it is going to be half over the ocean and continue to gain energy and hold together for much longer," said Isaac Hankes, a weather research analyst at Lanworth Inc, a company owned by Thomson Reuters Corp.After killing nearly 300 people in the Caribbean, the hurricane was likely to remain a Category 4 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale as it approaches the United States, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.As a consequence, the slow-moving storm, sporting winds of up to 140 miles per hour (225 km per hour), could prove to be more devastating than most hurricanes, even those that are just as powerful but slam directly into a single state."If it can live along the coast for a day and a half, it is going to be doing damage in terms of cost," said David Nolan, professor and chair of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Miami. "It might be remembered for its impact on the insurance industry more than anything else."From its origins as a relatively minor storm called "Invest 97L," Hurricane Matthew has feasted on the unusually warm temperatures of Caribbean waters and high humidity."The ultimate source of energy comes from the ocean," said Fuqing Zhang, a meteorology professor at Penn State University who has been tracking the storm since late September when it was located off the coast of the Windward Islands.Nolan, of the University of Miami, described hurricanes as "naturally occurring heat engines," that feed off the solar energy stored in warm ocean waters.Hurricane Matthew also benefited from a phenomenon known as low wind shear that allowed it to take shape before growing larger and more powerful. A high wind shear would have stunted the storm's growth.While those elements partially explain Matthew's development, experts admit that they do not fully understand why some tropical cyclones build into devastating hurricanes and others do not, even when conditions appear to be the same, said Brian Kahn, an atmospheric scientist and cloud specialist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.The biggest threat to hurricanes is land and Hurricane Matthew has encountered little resistance over the past four days during its slow march toward the U.S. Southeast.The storm plowed through Haiti on Tuesday, killing more than 265 people and causing major damage to the impoverished nation, which makes up half of the small island of Hispaniola."As it made landfall in Haiti, it got a little bit weaker," said Suzana Camargo, a professor at the Lamont Doherty Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York. But when it hit the ocean again, it strengthened, she said.(Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
U.S. farmers race to ready for Hurricane Matthew's blast-[Reuters]-By Chris Prentice-October 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hurricane Matthew, the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, roiled commodities markets and forced companies from cane refiners to orange juice makers to shutter as it whipped its way toward the southeastern United States on Thursday.Southeastern companies were closing down operations ahead of a storm that could threaten some two million tonnes of sugar and trees representing over 90 million boxes of citrus fruits in Florida. About half a million acres of cotton were at risk from torrential rain in North and South Carolina, where farmers have already been struggling during a rainy harvest.Officials issued a state of emergency for parts of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas for the Category 4 hurricane that by Thursday afternoon had already taken the lives of 140 people, mostly in Haiti. Port operations along the coast were slowing or shut.For commodities markets including U.S. sugar, orange juice and cotton, the storm prompted a volatile week of trade. Though forecasters like senior meteorologist Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc said damage to Florida's sugar and citrus crops would likely be limited, producers were readying for the worst.The storm has forced a shutdown of sugar operations just days into the harvest, said Ryan Weston, executive vice president of the Sugar Cane League, which represents growers in Florida, Texas and Hawaii."Depending on the intensity and path of the winds, hurricanes will knock the cane down to the ground, slowing harvest way down. It hurts this harvest and the next," Weston said.The storm was expected to hit Florida or brush along the state's east coast through Friday night, then work its way up the Atlantic coast.As of 5 p.m. (2100 GMT) Thursday, Matthew contained sustained winds of 140 mph and gusts up to 165 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. It was about 100 miles east-southeast of West Palm Beach, Florida, and was moving to the north-northwest at 14 mph.Florida's east coast, predominantly grapefruit country, was expected to bear the brunt of the storm. There, trees have already been weakened from disease, said Lerner."Our growers are already facing challenges," said Nikki Hayde, senior marketing manager for Florida's Natural Growers, a cooperative of about 1,000 citrus farmers throughout the state."We are trying to get out orders that were scheduled for Thursday and Friday on the road as quickly as possible," she said.-'HARVESTING AS FAST AS WE CAN'-The U.S. livestock industry was also closely tracking the storm's path, likely to brush the hog-rich Carolinas.Smithfield Foods, a subsidiary of WH Group Ltd and the world's largest hog producer and pork processor, moved to protect people, animals and buildings from the impending storm, said company spokeswoman Keira Lombardo in an e-mail.Crews at the port of Wilmington, North Carolina, prepared for Matthew's winds by lowering container stacks and tying down equipment.In North and South Carolina's cotton-growing regions, farmers raced to bring in fiber from fields where rains have delayed harvesting and the plants were at one of their most vulnerable stages, most susceptible to the 2 to 15 inches of rain expected."It's tricky," said Michael Quinn, president and chief executive of Carolinas Cotton Growers Cooperative Inc. "The growers are harvesting as fast as they can."“We are closely monitoring conditions ahead of the storm and working proactively with farmers to help them prepare for a significant rainfall event. Governor McCrory has declared a state of emergency for all 100 counties in North Carolina as we brace for as much as 10 to 12 inches of rain in our coastal areas,” said North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality spokeswoman Stephanie Hawco.(Corrects quote in last paragraph to say "for all 100 counties in North Carolina," not "for all 100 counties in central and eastern North Carolina".)(Reporting by Chris Prentice in New York and Theopolis Waters and Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by James Dalgleish)
Matthew intensifies into category 4 hurricane en route to Florida: NHC-[Reuters]-October 6, 2016-YAHOONEWS
(Reuters) - Hurricane Matthew has strengthened into a category 4 storm as it barrels toward Florida, the National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory on Thursday.The hurricane, now located about 180 miles (290 km) southeast of West Palm Beach, Florida packing maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hours (220 km/h), could strengthen further and remain a category 4 hurricane as it approached the Florida coast, the agency said.(Reporting by Arpan Varghese in Bengaluru)
Hurricane Matthew strengthens as it heads for southeastern United States-[Reuters]-By Zach Fagenson and Scott Malone-October 6, 2016-YAHOONEWS
JUPITER/ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - Hurricane Matthew, the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, strengthened as it barreled toward the southeastern United States on Thursday after killing at least 69 people, mostly in Haiti, on its deadly northward march.As Matthew blew through the northwestern Bahamas on Thursday en route to Florida's Atlantic coast, its winds increased to 140 miles per hour (220 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.That made it an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 hurricane and it was likely to remain so as it approached the United States, where it could either take direct aim at Florida or brush along the state's coast through Friday night, the center said.Some 65 people were killed in Haiti and thousands were displaced after the storm smashed homes and inundated neighborhoods earlier in the week.The National Hurricane Center extended its hurricane warning area farther north into South Carolina and more than 12 million U.S. residents were under hurricane watches and warnings, according to the Weather Channel.Roads in Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina were jammed and gas stations and food stores ran out of supplies as the storm approached, carrying with it strong storm surges, heavy rain and high winds.Matthew was 180 miles (290 km) southeast of West Palm Beach at about 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), and 25 miles (40 km) from Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, the hurricane center said.The damage could be "catastrophic" if the hurricane slammed directly into Florida, Governor Rick Scott warned, urging some 1.5 million people in the state to heed evacuation orders.“If you're reluctant to evacuate, just think about all the people who have been killed,” Scott told a news conference on Thursday. “Time is running out. This is clearly either going to have a direct hit or come right along the coast and we're going to have hurricane-force winds."Scott, who activated several thousand National Guard troops to help deal with the storm, warned that millions of people were likely to be left without power.With an expected storm surge of up to 9 feet (2.7 meters), he said people should stay away from beaches. "Do not go on the beach," he said. "This will kill you."The four U.S. states in the path of the hurricane declared states of emergency, a move empowering their governors to mobilize the National Guard.It was too soon to predict where in the United States Matthew was likely to do the most damage, the Hurricane Center said.Shelters in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina were opened for evacuees. Federal emergency response teams were coordinating with officials in all four states and stockpiling supplies.In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest encouraged residents in the path of the storm to heed warnings from local governments about evacuations and seeking shelter.-CLOSED SCHOOLS, EVACUATED HOSPITALS-Schools and airports across the region were closed on Thursday and some hospitals were evacuated, according to local media. Hundreds of flights were canceled in and out of the Florida cities of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, industry website Flightaware.com said.Matthew was heading northwest at about 14 mph (22 kph) and was expected to continue on this track on Thursday, turning north-northwest on Thursday night or early on Friday, the hurricane center said. The eye, or center, of the storm was moving between Andros Island and New Providence in the northwestern Bahamas on Thursday.In Nassau, which is on New Providence, it was raining steadily on Thursday morning and high winds were bucking palm trees. Minor damage to roofs was reported but there was no flooding yet or reports of injuries.On Tuesday and Wednesday Matthew, the strongest hurricane in the Caribbean since Felix struck Central America in 2007, had whipped Cuba and Haiti with 140 mph (225 kph) winds and torrential rain, pummeling towns and destroying livestock, crops and homes. The devastation in Haiti prompted authorities to postpone a presidential election.The last major hurricane, classified as a storm bearing sustained winds of more than 110 mph (177 kph), to hit the United States was Hurricane Wilma in 2005.In Florida, fuel stations posted "out of gas" signs after cars waited in long lines to fill up.At a Subco gas station in Orlando, the central Florida city that is home to resorts including Walt Disney World , the gas pumps had run dry on Wednesday afternoon."We were selling 800, 1,000 gallons of gas an hour. That's huge," said Nancy, who was working the counter on Thursday morning and declined to give her last name.The shop was a stopping off point for coastal residents seeking shelter inland from the coast. Among them was Jonas Sylvan, 44, of Melbourne, Florida, who planned to hole up in a hotel with his wife, two daughters and dog. "We're just trying to get away from the coast," he said. "It's safer here."In South Carolina, Tylisia Brooks, 44, who has lived on the barrier island of James Island near Charleston for six years, waited with her 8-year-old son and mother at a closed Walmart early Thursday for a school bus to take them to a hurricane shelter."We're from New York City," she said. "We've never been through a storm like this where we had to evacuate."It's very scary."(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, Neil Hartnell in Nassau, Rich McKay in Atlanta, Harriet McLeod in Charleston, S.C., Doina Chiacu in Washington, Joseph Guyler Delva in Haiti and Laila Kearney; Writing by Frances Kerry; Editing by John Stonestreet and Bill Trott).
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.
RUSSIA IS GETTING READY FOR SOMETHING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io7qJK2Vna8
NORTH KOREA NUKE THREATS
http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/breaking-north-korea-just-threatened-nuke-usa/
UPDATE-OCTOBER 09,2016-06:07AM
A TOTAL OF 877 ARE DEAD IN HAITI-5 IN FLORIDA AND 3 IN CAROLINA. AND 3 IN GEORGIA FOR A TOTAL DEAD OF 888 IN THIS HURRICANE MATTHEW SO FAR.
UPDATE-OCTOBER 07,2016-11:25AM
WHAT ON EARTH SUNNI-ARAB MUSLIM OBAMA TOOK TIME OFF FROM HIS MINNY GOLF AND TALKIN WITH HIS MUSLIM ADMINISTRATION AT THE WHITEHOUSE TO ADDRESS THE HURRICANE BRIEFLY. WOW-WERE DID HE FIND THE TIME. AND THERE IS AT LEAST 600,000 WITHOUT POWER IN FLORIDA AND AT LEAST 842 DEAD FROM MATTHEW IN HAITI AND THE OTHER AREAS 12. SO FAR I HAVE HEARD OF 1 DEAD IN FLORIDA SO FAR. FOR A TOTAL OF 855 BY MY COUNT DEAD FROM HURRICANE MATTHEW SO FAR. FLORIDA WILL BE HUMMELED BY 7-11 FOOT STORM SURGES YET TILL AT LEAST 6PM TONIGHT. BEFORE HEADING ONTO SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. UPDATE-OCT 07,16-7:30PM-1.1 MILLION ARE WITHOUT POWER SO FAR-AND 4 ARE NOW DEAD IN FLORIDA BRINGING THE TOTAL DEAD TO 858.
UPDATE-OCTOBER 06,2016-04:34PM
I JUST FIND THE MEDIA AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ARE WAY OVER DOING THIS HURRICANE. I GOT A FEELING THIS HURRICANE IS REALLY A COVER UP FOR POSSIBLY A RUSSIA-USA BATTLE IN THE MIDEAST OR NORTH KOREA IS GOING TO NUKE SOMEBODY. I JUST FIND THE FEAR MONGERING OVER THIS HURRICANE MATTHEW IS JUST TO OVER HYPED. I HOPE THE MEDIA AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ARE LEGITIMATELY CRYING GET OUT FOR YOUR LIVES. BUT I STILL GOT A SMALL VOICE IN MY SPIRIT SAYING THERES SOMETHING ELSE GOING ON AND THIS HURRICANE IS A PERFECT DISTRACTION TO COVER UP THE REAL INCIDENT GOING ON. BUT WE WILL SEE. AFTER THE WEEKEND. I PRAY NOBODY WILL BE KILLED BY THIS HURRICANE THOUGH. AND I PRAY THIS IN KING JESUS' NAME-AMEN AND AMEN-IT IS DONE. AT LEAST 136 PEOPLE DIED IN HAITI FROM HURRICANE MATTHEW. BUT IF THERE IS HUNDREDS DEAD AS A RESULT OF THIS HURRICANE IN FLORIDA AND COASTAL AREAS. IT WILL BE DIRECTLY ON SUNNI-ARAB MUSLIM OBAMAS HEAD FOR ONCE AGAIN TELLING ISRAEL THEY CAN NOT BUILD HOUSES ON THEIR OWN LAND THAT GOD TOLD ISRAEL TO BUILD AND MULTIPLY THE LAND WITH CHILDREN ON. YES-OBAMA THE DEATHS ARE ON YOUR HEAD IF LOTS DIE IN AMERICA AS A RESULT OF HURRICANE MATTHEW AND WHATEVER ELSE DISASTERS COME FROM IT. ITS NOW 8:03PM AND 264 PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN HAITI FROM HURRICANE MATTHEW. AS OF 10:20PM-283 HAVE BEEN KILLED IN THE OTHER COUNTRIES HIT BY MATTHEW IN THIS 100 YEAR HURRICANE.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/06/hurricane-matthew-haiti-rescuers-battle-reach-remote-areas
Weakened Hurricane Matthew still packs potent punch as it hits North Carolina, Virginia-[Reuters]-By Harriet McLeod and Scott Malone-October 9, 2016-YAHOONEWS
CHARLESTON, S.C./SAVANNAH, Ga. (Reuters) - Hurricane Matthew slammed into North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday, packing a diminished yet still potent punch as it caused major flooding and widespread power outages along the U.S. Atlantic coast after killing hundreds in Haiti.Now weakened, the most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007 unleashed torrential rains and powerful winds as it churned slowly north after pummeling the southeastern coast of the United States, killing at least 11 people in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina since Thursday and leaving more than two million businesses and homes without power.Early on Sunday, the storm threatened coastal communities in North Carolina and Virginia, where flash flood warnings were issued and gusts of winds of 75 miles per hour (120 kph) were recorded.“The wind is bending the trees to a 90 degree angle in my backyard, I've lost electrical power in my home and the rain is blowing sideways,” Frank Gianinni, a 59-year-old occupational therapist, said in an email from his home in Wilmington, North Carolina.“Standing outside in my backyard just now, and I’m humbled by the power of nature.”Forecasters warned that widespread flooding was possible from heavy rain - 15 inches (40 cm) was expected to fall in some areas - along with massive storm surges and high tides."We are looking at very significant flooding. Almost every road in the city is impassable," Virginia Beach spokeswoman Erin Sutton told the Weather Channel on Sunday from the city of almost 500,000 people that sits between Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.On Saturday evening, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory had urged residents to stay off roads and sidewalks to avoid "deadly conditions" caused by severe flooding and debris.Local and national media showed footage from throughout the region of motorists and passengers sitting and standing on vehicles stuck in rushing flood waters as crews used swift water boats to rescue the stranded. In Cumberland County, North Carolina alone, more than 500 people had been rescued by crews as of early on Sunday, the Weather Channel reported.As of 2 a.m. EST (0600 GMT) on Sunday, the storm was about 50 miles (80 km) east of Morehead City, North Carolina, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. The center of the storm was set to move near or south of the North Carolina coast early on Sunday and east of the state later in the day as it weakens.Matthew, which topped out as a ferocious Category 5 storm days before and killed at least 877 people in Haiti, has now been downgraded to Category 1.It made U.S. landfall on Saturday near McClellanville, South Carolina, a village 30 miles (48 km) north of Charleston that was devastated by a Category 4 hurricane in 1989.The storm was blamed for at least 11 deaths in the United States - five in Florida, three in North Carolina and three in Georgia, including two people killed by falling trees in Bulloch County, the county coroner said.Power was reported knocked out for more than 2 million households and businesses in the U.S. Southeast, the bulk of those in Florida and South Carolina.The storm-stricken stretch of the Atlantic Coast from Miami to Charleston, a nearly 600-mile drive, encompasses some of the most well-known beaches, resorts and historical towns in the southeastern United States. Parts of Interstate 95, the main north-south thoroughfare on the East Coast, were closed due to flooding and fallen trees, state officials said.Roads in Jackson Beach, Florida, were littered with debris, including chunks from an historic pier dislodged by the storm, with some intersections clogged by up to a foot of standing water. Beachfront businesses suffered moderate damage."We rode out the storm. It wasn't this bad at our house, but here there's a lot of damage," said Zowi Cuartas, 18, as he watched bystanders pick up shattered signs near the beach.Florida Governor Rick Scott said more than 6,000 people stayed in shelters overnight, but he appeared relieved that the state had been spared from greater harm."We're all blessed that Matthew stayed off our coast," he said. He predicted electricity would be restored to most without power by Sunday evening.Streets in downtown Charleston, known for its historic waterfront architecture, were flooded to the tops of tires on some parked cars, and a few residents could be seen wading near the city's sea wall as high tide approached.Some 8 inches (20 cm) of rain fell in the Savannah, Georgia area, downing trees and causing flooding.The National Weather Service said record-high tides were recorded along the Savannah River at the South Carolina-Georgia border, peaking at 12.6 feet, surpassing those from Hurricane David in 1979.Storm damage was far greater in Haiti earlier in the week when Matthew plowed directly into the impoverished Caribbean island nation. Around 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said, after the storm lashed coastal villages in high surf.(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, David Bailey in Minneapolis, Zachary Goelman in Orlando, Fla., David Shepardson in Washington, and Steve Gorman and Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Bernard Orr and Susan Fenton)
Hurricane Matthew death toll nears 900 in Haiti, cholera takes lives-[Reuters]-By Makini Brice and Joseph Guyler Delva-October 8, 2016-YAHOONEWS
CHANTAL, Haiti/PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Hurricane Matthew’s trail of destruction in Haiti stunned those emerging from the aftermath on Friday, with the number of dead soaring to 877, tens of thousands left homeless and outbreaks of cholera already claiming more lives.Information trickled in from remote areas that were cut off by the storm and it became clear that at least 175 people died in villages clustered among the hills and on the coast of Haiti’s fertile western tip.Rural clinics overflowed with patients whose wounds including broken bones had not been treated since the storm hit on Tuesday. Food was scarce and at least seven people died of cholera, likely because of flood water mixing with sewage.The storm razed homes to their foundations. The corrugated metal roofs of those still standing were ripped off, the contents visible from above as if peering into doll’s houses.At least three towns reported dozens of fatalities, including the hilly farming village of Chantal, whose mayor said 86 people were killed, mostly when trees crushed houses. He said 20 more people were missing.“A tree fell on the house and flattened it, the entire house fell on us. I couldn’t get out,” said driver Jean-Pierre Jean-Donald, 27, who had been married for a year.“People came to lift the rubble, and then we saw my wife who had died in the same spot,” said Jean-Donald, his young daughter by his side, crying “Mommy.”The death toll continued to rise on Friday in southwest Haiti. Dozens more were missing, many of them in the Grand'Anse region on the northern side of the peninsula.“We flew over parts of the Grand'Anse region. It’s a humanitarian catastrophe,” said Frenel Kedner, a government official in the town of Jeremie in southwest Haiti. “The people urgently need food, water, medicine.”-CHOLERA CASES RISE-In the town of Anse-d'Hainault, seven people died of cholera, a disease that did not exist in Haiti until U.N. peace keepers introduced it after a 2010 earthquake that killed some 200,000 people.Another 17 cholera cases were reported in Chardonnieres on the south coast.“Due to massive flooding and its impact on water and sanitation infrastructure, cholera cases are expected to surge after Hurricane Matthew and through the normal rainy season until the start of 2017,” the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said in a statement.With fatalities mounting, various government agencies and committees differed on total deaths. A Reuters count of deaths reported by civil protection and local officials put the toll at 877.Haiti’s central civil protection agency, which takes longer to collate numbers because it needs to visually confirm victims itself, said 271 people died as Matthew smashed through the western peninsula on Tuesday with 145 mph (233 kph) winds and torrential rain.Some 61,500 people were in shelters, the agency said.Matthew pushed the sea into fragile coastal villages, some of which are only now being contacted.Coastal town Les Anglais lost “several dozen” people, Louis-Paul Raphael, the central government representative in the region, told Reuters.Les Anglais was the first place in Haiti that Matthew reached, as a powerful Category 4 storm before it moved north, lost strength and lashed central Florida on Friday.With cellphone networks down and roads flooded by sea and river water, aid has been slow to reach towns and villages. Instead, locals have been helping each other.“My house wasn’t destroyed, so I am receiving people, like it’s a temporary shelter,” said Bellony Amazan in the town of Cavaillon, where around a dozen people died. Amazan said she had no food to give people.Outside Chantal, stall holders at a makeshift market were selling vegetables and soft drinks, brought in from Port-Au-Prince as roads were cleared to the capital.“All our houses have been destroyed. This is our existence,” said one stall holder, who declined to give her name.(Reporting by Joseph Guyler Delva; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Simon Gardner and Paul Tait)
Factbox: Hurricane Matthew leaves nearly 1.6 million in U.S. Southeast powerless-[Reuters]-October 8, 2016-YAHOONEWS
Almost 1.6 million homes and businesses were without power on Saturday afternoon as Hurricane Matthew crashed along the coast of South Carolina after battering the Atlantic coast of Florida and Georgia, electric companies said.Matthew, the first major hurricane to hit the United States in more than 10 years, lashed Florida, Georgia and South Carolina with heavy rain and wind, after killing almost 900 people in Haiti as it swept north through the Caribbean.(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Stephen Powell)
Hurricane Matthew slams into South Carolina, diminished but still dangerous-[Reuters]-By Scott Malone and Harriet McLeod-October 8, 2016-YAHOONEWS
JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla./CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - Hurricane Matthew slammed into South Carolina on Saturday, packing a diminished yet still powerful punch after killing almost 900 people in Haiti and causing major flooding and widespread power outages as it skirted Florida and Georgia.The most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007 left flooding and wind damage in Florida before moving north to soak coastal Georgia and the Carolinas. Wind speeds had dropped by nearly half from their peak about a week ago to 75 miles per hour (120 kph), reducing it to a Category 1 hurricane, the weakest on the Saffir-Simpson scale of 1 to 5.Matthew, which topped out as a ferocious Category 5 storm more than a week ago, made landfall near McClellanville, a village 30 miles north of Charleston that was devastated by a Category 4 hurricane in 1989. The National Hurricane Service warned of serious flooding in the area even as the storm slowed as it drove inland.At least five deaths in Florida were attributed to the storm, which knocked out power to almost 1.6 million households and businesses in the southeastern United States. The stretch of the Atlantic coast from Miami to Charleston, a nearly 600-mile drive, encompasses some of the most well-known beaches, resorts and historical towns in the southeastern United States.In Florida, 775,000 were without power, according to state utilities, while in South Carolina 433,000 had no electricity, Governor Nikki Haley said. Georgia Power said at least 275,000 were without power in the state.Roads in Jackson Beach were littered with wood, including sections of a historic pier, and foot-deep (15 cm) water clogged intersections. Beachfront businesses suffered moderate damage."We rode out the storm. It wasn't this bad at our house, but here there's a lot of damage," said Zowi Cuartas, 18, as he watched people pick up shattered signs near the beach. "We were prepared to lose our house."Governor Rick Scott of Florida said more than 6,000 people stayed in shelters overnight but he appeared relieved at a news conference on Saturday the storm had not done more harm."We're all blessed that Matthew stayed off our coast," he said, describing extensive flooding, damaged roads, downed trees and homes without electricity. He predicted most people would have power back by Sunday evening. He did not comment on the reports of four deaths.Streets in downtown Charleston, known for its historic architecture, were flooding up to the tops of tires on some cars and a few residents waded, some barefoot, near the city's sea wall as high tide approached. Tony Williams, 54, who said he is homeless, rode his bicycle in huge wind gusts after spending the night in the covered garage of a bank. "I just got tired of laying where I was laying," he said, adding that he had found a raincoat blowing through a parking lot to keep him dry.On Daufuskie Island near the Georgia border, writer Roger Pinckney, 70, said he was fine on Saturday morning after refusing pleas from officials for residents of low-lying barrier islands to evacuate. "It blew like hell," he said.Charleston officials said they were not aware of any deaths, injuries or significant structural damage. Winds and the threat of surges were expected to diminish through the day, National Weather Service forecaster James Carpenter said by telephone.-DEATH TOLL IN HAITI-The toll in the United States was far less devastating than in Haiti, where at least 877 people died earlier, a death toll that ticked up as information trickled in from remote areas, according to a Reuters tally of tolls from officials.Matthew howled through Haiti's western peninsula on Tuesday with 145 mph (233 kph) winds and torrential rain. Some 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said, after the storm hurled the sea onto coastal villages.The Mesa Verde, a U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock ship, was en route to Haiti to support relief efforts with heavy-lift helicopters, bulldozers, fresh-water delivery vehicles and two operating rooms. The U.S. government was also airlifting blankets, hygiene kits, kitchen sets and plastic sheeting for emergency shelters, according to the United States Agency for International Development.Aid group Doctors Without Borders was flying personnel in by helicopter. The Haitian government warned a deadly outbreak of cholera in Haiti could worsen, confirming dozens of new cases of the water-borne disease reported since the storm, 13 of them fatal.Officials in Florida, which has been grappling with an outbreak of Zika, said they hoped the flooding would not worsen the spread of the mosquito-borne virus, which causes fever and birth deformities."We have got to get rid of standing water as quickly as we can," Governor Scott told reporters.-FLOODS PREDICTED-In North Carolina, which remains in Matthew's path, Governor Pat McCrory warned storm surges and high winds could cause serious problems and was "extremely concerned" the downgrade to a Category 1 would cause people not to take warnings seriously.Forecasters warned of flooding as 15 inches (40 cm) of rain were expected to fall in some areas along with massive storm surges and high tides.Some 8 inches (20 cm) of rain fell in the Savannah, Georgia area, downing trees and causing flooding.Though gradually weakening, Matthew - which triggered mass evacuations along the southeast U.S. coast - was forecast to remain a hurricane until it begins moving away on Sunday, the NHC said.President Barack Obama and officials urged people to heed safety instructions.(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, Zachary Goelman in Orlando, Fla. and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by James Dalgleish)
Over 800 killed by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti, storm lashes Florida-[Reuters]-By Joseph Guyler Delva and Scott Malone-October 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti/DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - Hurricane Matthew killed more than 800 people and left tens of thousands homeless in its rampage through Haiti earlier this week before it lashed Florida on Friday with howling winds and rumbled northward up the U.S. Atlantic coast.The number of deaths in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, surged to at least 842 on Friday as information trickled in from remote areas previously cut off by the storm, according to a Reuters tally of death tolls given by officials.Matthew, the fiercest cyclone to affect the United States since Superstorm Sandy hit the Northeast four years ago, triggered mass evacuations along the coast from Florida through Georgia and into South Carolina and North Carolina.U.S. President Barack Obama urged people not to be complacent and to heed safety instructions in the face of a storm that could be the most severe to strike northeast Florida in more than 100 years.“I just want to emphasize to everybody that this is still a really dangerous hurricane, that the potential for storm surge, loss of life and severe property damage exists," Obama told reporters after a briefing with emergency management officials.Matthew smashed through Haiti's western peninsula on Tuesday with 145 mph (233 kph) winds and torrential rain. Some 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said, after the storm pushed the sea into fragile coastal villages, some of which were only now being contacted.At least three towns in the hills and coast of Haiti's fertile western tip reported dozens of people killed, including the farming village of Chantal where the mayor said 86 people died, mostly when trees crushed houses. He said 20 others were missing."A tree fell on the house and flattened it, the entire house fell on us. I couldn’t get out," said driver Jean-Pierre Jean-Donald, 27, who had been married for only a year."People came to lift the rubble, and then we saw my wife who had died in the same spot," Jean-Donald said, his young daughter by his side, crying "Mommy."With cellphone networks down and roads flooded, aid has been slow to reach hard-hit areas in Haiti. Food was scarce, and at least seven people died of cholera, likely because of flood water mixing with sewage.The Mesa Verde, a U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock ship, was heading for Haiti to support relief efforts. The ship has heavy-lift helicopters, bulldozers, fresh water delivery vehicles and two surgical operating rooms.-ONE DEAD IN FLORIDA-Matthew skirted Florida on Friday morning with winds of up to 120 miles per hour (195 kph), but had not made landfall by afternoon. The U.S. National Hurricane Center later downgraded the storm to a Category 2 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity as its sustained winds dropped to 110 mph. A Category 5 is the strongest.No significant damage was reported in cities and towns in south Florida where the storm brought down trees and power lines. But one person was killed by a falling tree in Volusia County after venturing outside to feed animals during a lull in the storm, said James Dinneen, manager of the county that includes Daytona Beach.Hurricane warnings extended up the Atlantic coast from central Florida through Georgia and South Carolina and into North Carolina.In Daytona Beach, the street under the city's famed "World's Most Famous Beach" sign was clogged with debris washed up by the ocean. The waves had receded by early afternoon but there was damage throughout the city, including a facade ripped off the front of a seaside hotel.The city of Jacksonville could face significant flooding, Governor Rick Scott said. The storm cut power to some 1 million customers in Florida, his office said.Armed guards patrolled the outside of Fox Hill prison in Nassau, the only prison facility in the Bahamas, after the storm knocked down parts of its concrete walls.No deaths were reported from the Bahamas, but residents of Nassau were still without power on Friday.At 5 p.m. (2000 GMT), Matthew's eye, or centre, was brushing the northeast Florida coast near Jacksonville, the NHC said.It was on a path that would likely take it near or over the coast of northeast Florida and Georgia through Friday night and near or over the coast of South Carolina on Saturday.Craig Fugate, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said he was concerned that relatively light damage so far could give people farther up the coast a false sense of security."People should not be looking at the damages they're seeing and saying this storm is not that bad," Fugate told NBC."The real danger still is storm surge, particularly in northern Florida and southern Georgia. These are very vulnerable areas. They've never seen this kind of damage potential since the late 1800s," Fugate said.In Cape Canaveral, Florida, home to the country's main space launch site, the storm downed power lines and trees and destroyed billboards.The U.S. National Weather Service has said it could be the most powerful storm to strike northeast Florida in 118 years.-RELUCTANT TO LEAVE-In St. Augustine just south of Jacksonville, about half of the 14,000 residents refused to heed evacuation orders despite warnings of an eight-foot (2.4- meter) storm surge that could sink entire neighbourhoods, Mayor Nancy Shaver said in a telephone interview from the area’s emergency operations centre.Even as power started to dim and water was shut off in St. Augustine, the oldest U.S. city and a major tourism attraction, residents, especially elderly and the working poor, refused to budge, she said.“There's that whole inability to suspend disbelief that I think really affects people in a time like this,” Shaver said.In addition to those who simply did not believe the storm was a major threat, some of the city’s residents lacked vehicles or other means to evacuate, said Shaver.Lack of means to move was one reason some people stayed in New Orleans before it was hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The storm killed more than 1,800 people there and along the U.S. Gulf Coast.About 22,000 people were in Florida shelters and Georgia and South Carolina also opened dozens of shelters for evacuees.(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Eric Walsh and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Gabriel Stargardter in Miami; Zachary Goelman in Orlando, Fla.; Zachary Fagenson in Wellington, Fla.; Irene Klotz in Portland, Maine; Laila Kearney in New York; Colleen Jenkins in Winston-Salem, N.C.; Neil Hartnell in Nassau; Writing by Frances Kerry; Editing by Alistair Bell and Tom Brown)
Hurricane Matthew's coastal path makes it frightening, experts say-[Reuters]-By Timothy Mclaughlin-October 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
(Reuters) - The coast-hugging path that forecasters expect Hurricane Matthew to take as it moves up the Atlantic seaboard on Friday and Saturday could make the storm one of the most devastating ever to hit the U.S. Southeast, according to experts.If Matthew skirts the coast of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina as experts expect, rather than slamming directly into land as most hurricanes do, the storm would keep drawing energy from the warm ocean waters, fuelling its destructive force."Once they make landfall, they will dissipate, but in the case of Matthew, it is going to be half over the ocean and continue to gain energy and hold together for much longer," said Isaac Hankes, a weather research analyst at Lanworth Inc, a company owned by Thomson Reuters Corp.After killing nearly 300 people in the Caribbean, the hurricane was likely to remain a Category 4 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale as it approaches the United States, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.As a consequence, the slow-moving storm, sporting winds of up to 140 miles per hour (225 km per hour), could prove to be more devastating than most hurricanes, even those that are just as powerful but slam directly into a single state."If it can live along the coast for a day and a half, it is going to be doing damage in terms of cost," said David Nolan, professor and chair of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Miami. "It might be remembered for its impact on the insurance industry more than anything else."From its origins as a relatively minor storm called "Invest 97L," Hurricane Matthew has feasted on the unusually warm temperatures of Caribbean waters and high humidity."The ultimate source of energy comes from the ocean," said Fuqing Zhang, a meteorology professor at Penn State University who has been tracking the storm since late September when it was located off the coast of the Windward Islands.Nolan, of the University of Miami, described hurricanes as "naturally occurring heat engines," that feed off the solar energy stored in warm ocean waters.Hurricane Matthew also benefited from a phenomenon known as low wind shear that allowed it to take shape before growing larger and more powerful. A high wind shear would have stunted the storm's growth.While those elements partially explain Matthew's development, experts admit that they do not fully understand why some tropical cyclones build into devastating hurricanes and others do not, even when conditions appear to be the same, said Brian Kahn, an atmospheric scientist and cloud specialist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.The biggest threat to hurricanes is land and Hurricane Matthew has encountered little resistance over the past four days during its slow march toward the U.S. Southeast.The storm plowed through Haiti on Tuesday, killing more than 265 people and causing major damage to the impoverished nation, which makes up half of the small island of Hispaniola."As it made landfall in Haiti, it got a little bit weaker," said Suzana Camargo, a professor at the Lamont Doherty Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York. But when it hit the ocean again, it strengthened, she said.(Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
U.S. farmers race to ready for Hurricane Matthew's blast-[Reuters]-By Chris Prentice-October 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hurricane Matthew, the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, roiled commodities markets and forced companies from cane refiners to orange juice makers to shutter as it whipped its way toward the southeastern United States on Thursday.Southeastern companies were closing down operations ahead of a storm that could threaten some two million tonnes of sugar and trees representing over 90 million boxes of citrus fruits in Florida. About half a million acres of cotton were at risk from torrential rain in North and South Carolina, where farmers have already been struggling during a rainy harvest.Officials issued a state of emergency for parts of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas for the Category 4 hurricane that by Thursday afternoon had already taken the lives of 140 people, mostly in Haiti. Port operations along the coast were slowing or shut.For commodities markets including U.S. sugar, orange juice and cotton, the storm prompted a volatile week of trade. Though forecasters like senior meteorologist Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc said damage to Florida's sugar and citrus crops would likely be limited, producers were readying for the worst.The storm has forced a shutdown of sugar operations just days into the harvest, said Ryan Weston, executive vice president of the Sugar Cane League, which represents growers in Florida, Texas and Hawaii."Depending on the intensity and path of the winds, hurricanes will knock the cane down to the ground, slowing harvest way down. It hurts this harvest and the next," Weston said.The storm was expected to hit Florida or brush along the state's east coast through Friday night, then work its way up the Atlantic coast.As of 5 p.m. (2100 GMT) Thursday, Matthew contained sustained winds of 140 mph and gusts up to 165 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. It was about 100 miles east-southeast of West Palm Beach, Florida, and was moving to the north-northwest at 14 mph.Florida's east coast, predominantly grapefruit country, was expected to bear the brunt of the storm. There, trees have already been weakened from disease, said Lerner."Our growers are already facing challenges," said Nikki Hayde, senior marketing manager for Florida's Natural Growers, a cooperative of about 1,000 citrus farmers throughout the state."We are trying to get out orders that were scheduled for Thursday and Friday on the road as quickly as possible," she said.-'HARVESTING AS FAST AS WE CAN'-The U.S. livestock industry was also closely tracking the storm's path, likely to brush the hog-rich Carolinas.Smithfield Foods, a subsidiary of WH Group Ltd and the world's largest hog producer and pork processor, moved to protect people, animals and buildings from the impending storm, said company spokeswoman Keira Lombardo in an e-mail.Crews at the port of Wilmington, North Carolina, prepared for Matthew's winds by lowering container stacks and tying down equipment.In North and South Carolina's cotton-growing regions, farmers raced to bring in fiber from fields where rains have delayed harvesting and the plants were at one of their most vulnerable stages, most susceptible to the 2 to 15 inches of rain expected."It's tricky," said Michael Quinn, president and chief executive of Carolinas Cotton Growers Cooperative Inc. "The growers are harvesting as fast as they can."“We are closely monitoring conditions ahead of the storm and working proactively with farmers to help them prepare for a significant rainfall event. Governor McCrory has declared a state of emergency for all 100 counties in North Carolina as we brace for as much as 10 to 12 inches of rain in our coastal areas,” said North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality spokeswoman Stephanie Hawco.(Corrects quote in last paragraph to say "for all 100 counties in North Carolina," not "for all 100 counties in central and eastern North Carolina".)(Reporting by Chris Prentice in New York and Theopolis Waters and Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by James Dalgleish)
Matthew intensifies into category 4 hurricane en route to Florida: NHC-[Reuters]-October 6, 2016-YAHOONEWS
(Reuters) - Hurricane Matthew has strengthened into a category 4 storm as it barrels toward Florida, the National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory on Thursday.The hurricane, now located about 180 miles (290 km) southeast of West Palm Beach, Florida packing maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hours (220 km/h), could strengthen further and remain a category 4 hurricane as it approached the Florida coast, the agency said.(Reporting by Arpan Varghese in Bengaluru)
Hurricane Matthew strengthens as it heads for southeastern United States-[Reuters]-By Zach Fagenson and Scott Malone-October 6, 2016-YAHOONEWS
JUPITER/ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - Hurricane Matthew, the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, strengthened as it barreled toward the southeastern United States on Thursday after killing at least 69 people, mostly in Haiti, on its deadly northward march.As Matthew blew through the northwestern Bahamas on Thursday en route to Florida's Atlantic coast, its winds increased to 140 miles per hour (220 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.That made it an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 hurricane and it was likely to remain so as it approached the United States, where it could either take direct aim at Florida or brush along the state's coast through Friday night, the center said.Some 65 people were killed in Haiti and thousands were displaced after the storm smashed homes and inundated neighborhoods earlier in the week.The National Hurricane Center extended its hurricane warning area farther north into South Carolina and more than 12 million U.S. residents were under hurricane watches and warnings, according to the Weather Channel.Roads in Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina were jammed and gas stations and food stores ran out of supplies as the storm approached, carrying with it strong storm surges, heavy rain and high winds.Matthew was 180 miles (290 km) southeast of West Palm Beach at about 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), and 25 miles (40 km) from Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, the hurricane center said.The damage could be "catastrophic" if the hurricane slammed directly into Florida, Governor Rick Scott warned, urging some 1.5 million people in the state to heed evacuation orders.“If you're reluctant to evacuate, just think about all the people who have been killed,” Scott told a news conference on Thursday. “Time is running out. This is clearly either going to have a direct hit or come right along the coast and we're going to have hurricane-force winds."Scott, who activated several thousand National Guard troops to help deal with the storm, warned that millions of people were likely to be left without power.With an expected storm surge of up to 9 feet (2.7 meters), he said people should stay away from beaches. "Do not go on the beach," he said. "This will kill you."The four U.S. states in the path of the hurricane declared states of emergency, a move empowering their governors to mobilize the National Guard.It was too soon to predict where in the United States Matthew was likely to do the most damage, the Hurricane Center said.Shelters in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina were opened for evacuees. Federal emergency response teams were coordinating with officials in all four states and stockpiling supplies.In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest encouraged residents in the path of the storm to heed warnings from local governments about evacuations and seeking shelter.-CLOSED SCHOOLS, EVACUATED HOSPITALS-Schools and airports across the region were closed on Thursday and some hospitals were evacuated, according to local media. Hundreds of flights were canceled in and out of the Florida cities of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, industry website Flightaware.com said.Matthew was heading northwest at about 14 mph (22 kph) and was expected to continue on this track on Thursday, turning north-northwest on Thursday night or early on Friday, the hurricane center said. The eye, or center, of the storm was moving between Andros Island and New Providence in the northwestern Bahamas on Thursday.In Nassau, which is on New Providence, it was raining steadily on Thursday morning and high winds were bucking palm trees. Minor damage to roofs was reported but there was no flooding yet or reports of injuries.On Tuesday and Wednesday Matthew, the strongest hurricane in the Caribbean since Felix struck Central America in 2007, had whipped Cuba and Haiti with 140 mph (225 kph) winds and torrential rain, pummeling towns and destroying livestock, crops and homes. The devastation in Haiti prompted authorities to postpone a presidential election.The last major hurricane, classified as a storm bearing sustained winds of more than 110 mph (177 kph), to hit the United States was Hurricane Wilma in 2005.In Florida, fuel stations posted "out of gas" signs after cars waited in long lines to fill up.At a Subco gas station in Orlando, the central Florida city that is home to resorts including Walt Disney World , the gas pumps had run dry on Wednesday afternoon."We were selling 800, 1,000 gallons of gas an hour. That's huge," said Nancy, who was working the counter on Thursday morning and declined to give her last name.The shop was a stopping off point for coastal residents seeking shelter inland from the coast. Among them was Jonas Sylvan, 44, of Melbourne, Florida, who planned to hole up in a hotel with his wife, two daughters and dog. "We're just trying to get away from the coast," he said. "It's safer here."In South Carolina, Tylisia Brooks, 44, who has lived on the barrier island of James Island near Charleston for six years, waited with her 8-year-old son and mother at a closed Walmart early Thursday for a school bus to take them to a hurricane shelter."We're from New York City," she said. "We've never been through a storm like this where we had to evacuate."It's very scary."(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, Neil Hartnell in Nassau, Rich McKay in Atlanta, Harriet McLeod in Charleston, S.C., Doina Chiacu in Washington, Joseph Guyler Delva in Haiti and Laila Kearney; Writing by Frances Kerry; Editing by John Stonestreet and Bill Trott).
