Hurricane Matthew was the strongest tropical cyclone to threaten and impact Florida since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Developing into a tropical storm on September 28, Matthew underwent rapid intensification, strengthening to a Category 5 hurricane with winds of by October 1. After slight weakening, Matthew made two landfalls in Haiti and Cuba. Matthew slightly reintensified before making further landfalls in The Bahamas, and then paralleling the coast of the Southeastern United States for 36 hours. Matthew transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on October 10.

While the center of the storm did not actually cross the coastline, the western eyewall of the storm paralleled the coast, with the most eastern portions receiving winds up to Category 2 strength. The storm caused at least three direct deaths and eleven indirect, and up to $2.77 billion (2016 USD) in damages.

Background

Tropical Storm Matthew developed on September 28 from a tropical wave moving through the southern Lesser Antilles. It intensified over the Caribbean Sea, becoming a hurricane on September 29, and a major hurricane a day later. At 00:00 UTC on October 1, Matthew became a Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with peak sustained winds of , while located offshore northern Colombia. Around that time, tropical cyclone forecast models noted the potential for Matthew to move close to southern Florida. Weakening slightly, Matthew remained a Category 4 hurricane by the time it made landfalls in southwestern Haiti, southeastern Cuba, and parts of the Bahamas. From October 6–7, Matthew parallelled the east coast of Florida as a Category? 4 hurricane. As late as 03:00 UTC on October 7, computer models predicted that the hurricane would move ashore the state. Instead, the center of Matthew's eye remained 35 mi (55 km) offshore, although the western edge of the eyewall moved over Cape Canaveral. Matthew weakened as it progressed northward, later striking North Carolina, transitioning into an extratropical cyclone, and being absorbed by a cold front.

Preparations On September 30, Governor Rick Scott made a statement to residents, urging them to be vigilant of the approaching hurricane. Forecasts the following day indicated that Matthew had the potential to be the most powerful hurricane to threaten the state since Wilma in 2005. The state's Division of Emergency Management urged residents to not be complacent and urged those living along the east coast to prepare accordingly. Governor Scott began regular phone conferences with Rick Knabb—the director of the National Hurricane Center—and officials in all 67 counties on October 2. Although the center of Matthew was forecast to remain offshore, Scott stated: "This storm is catastrophic, and if it hits our state, we could see impacts that we have not seen in many years". All counties were placed under a state of emergency on October 3 in accordance with Executive Order 16-230. This enabled the allocation of federal funds for emergency preparations to ensure the safety of residents. The Florida National Guard was placed on standby and fuel trucks were placed along the Florida Turnpike for quick deployment anywhere in the state. About 200 National Guardsmen were deployed on October 4. On the afternoon of October 4, Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park were shut down.Everglades National Park Closing Due to Hurricane Matthew, NPS.gov, October 4, 2016Biscayne National Park Closure for Hurricane Matthew, NPS.gov, October 4, 2016

Grade schools and universities across the East Coast announced closures for October 6–9. A further 1,200 members of the Florida National Guard were deployed on this day, and another 2,000 on October 6. The state government opened 130 shelters while the American Red Cross opened 97 of their own. The Florida Department of Transportation suspended all construction projects on interstates, limited access facilities, coastal, and evacuation route roadways. Bridges along the Intracoastal Waterway were to be shut down prior to the onset of gale-force winds. All tunnels in the Miami Metropolitan Area were closed and the Tri-Rail suspended service for the duration of Matthew's passage. Service at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, North Perry Airport, and Orlando Sanford International Airport was suspended on October 6, resulting in the cancellation of hundreds of flights. A further 600 flights were canceled at Miami International Airport; however, the airport remained open. Numerous flights to aforementioned airports were diverted to Tampa International to compensate for closures.

In preparation for heavy rainfall, the United States Army Corps of Engineers maximized water discharges in Lake Okeechobee while the South Florida Water Management District lowered canal levels. More than 50 state parks and campgrounds were closed across the state.

On October 5, Port Canaveral was closed by the U.S. Coast Guard, the first closure since 2004. Eight cruise ships and four cargo ships were scheduled to visit the port between October 5–9. On Cape Canaveral, home to both civilian and military spaceflight facilities, no rockets or spacecraft were in vulnerable positions; at the time of Matthew's approach, the next launch was scheduled for November 4. The Kennedy Space Center began preparations of the facilities on October 5. Older buildings at the KSC were designed to withstand winds of ; buildings constructed after 1992, when Category 5 Hurricane Andrew struck the Miami area, are built to withstand winds. At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing began disconnecting electric power to non-essential facilities on October 4.

Volusia, including mandatory curfew Seminole curfew

Evacuations

With Matthew forecast to track roughly parallel to the Florida coastline, meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center noted that expected impacts would be difficult to quantify for specific locations. Relatively small-scale deviations in the hurricane's track would drastically change the potential impacts; a wobble west would bring Category 3 conditions onshore while a wobble east would keep hurricane-force winds offshore. Mandatory evacuations began on October 5 for barrier islands in Brevard County; voluntary evacuations also took place in Duval, Flagler, and St. Lucie counties. By the morning of October 6, approximately 1.5 million people were under evacuation orders in Brevard, Broward, Clay, DeSoto, Duval, Flagler, Indian River, Martin, Miami-Dade, Nassau, Palm Beach, St. John's, St. Lucie, and Volusia counties. This included relocation of patients in various hospitals, including Baptist Medical Center Beaches, Health First Cape Canaveral Hospital, Florida Hospital Oceanside, Florida Hospital New Symrna, Baptist Medical Center Nassau, and Wuesthoff Medical Center. In a public warning, Governor Scott bluntly told residents that "this storm will kill you," should they choose to not evacuate. Road tolls were suspended in evacuating counties, and later to all affected counties. Gridlock on Interstate 10 out of Jacksonville hampered evacuation efforts. Approximately 17,000 people living on barrier islands in Martin County were urged to leave; however, many opted to ride out the storm.

Despite dire warnings from officials in the Jacksonville area, only 30 percent of residents in the coastal communities of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Neptune Beach evacuated. With the aforementioned communities only linked to the mainland by bridge, no emergency services would be available to them during the storm.

Watches and warnings

While Matthew was crossing the Gulf of Gonâve on October 4, the National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for eastern Florida from Deerfield Beach north the Volusia–Brevard county line; a tropical storm watch was also raised for southeastern Florida from Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys to Deerfield Beach as well as Lake Okeechobee. The watch over Lake Okeechobee was upgraded to a hurricane watch hours later. As Matthew crossed Cuba, hurricane warnings were raised for areas between Golden Beach and Sebastian Inlet as well as Lake Okeechobee; the hurricane watch was extended north to include Flagler County; furthermore, a tropical storm warning was issued for areas between Chokoloskee to Golden Beach, including the Florida Keys and Florida Bay. With Matthew posing a threat to the entire east coast of Florida, the hurricane watch was further extended to the Florida–Georgia border early on October 5. The hurricane warning area expanded farther north throughout the day, extending to the Flagler–Volusia county line at 15:00 UTC, and the Florida–Georgia border at 03:00 UTC on October 6. Furthermore, a new tropical storm watch was raised for areas along the Gulf Coast from Chokoloskee to Suwannee River. A tropical storm warning was later issued on October 6 along the Gulf Coast for areas between the Anclote River to Suwannee River. As Matthew tracked along the Florida coast, watches and warnings were steadily discontinued from south to north on October 7 and 8.

Athletics and theme parks The Southeastern Conference football matchup between LSU and Florida, scheduled for October 8 in Gainesville, was canceled. The National Hockey League preseason game between the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning was canceled as well.

For the fourth time in its 45-year history, the Walt Disney World Resort closed. Its theme parks, water parks, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Disney's Blizzard Beach, Disney's Typhoon Lagoon, Disney Springs, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and the resort hotels were all closed by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on October 6 and did not reopen until October 8. This was the first time since 2004 that the parks have closed, with all of but one of those instances happening due to hurricanes. Other Orlando-area theme parks, including Universal Orlando Resort theme parks, Universal's Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios Florida, Universal CityWalk and SeaWorld Orlando, also closed.

stuff Daytona speedway

Impacts Property damage directly related to Hurricane Matthew reached at least $1.173 billion across Florida with an additional $318.5 million incurred to the power grid, for a damage total of at least $1.492 billion. By March 2017, more than 119,000 property damage claims were filed, with Brevard, Duval, Flagler, St. Johns, and Volusia accounting for the majority of these claims. Approximately 1.36 million people—6.8 percent of the Florida's population—lost power across 39 counties, 1.2 million of whom were Florida Power & Light customers.

+ Effects of the Hurricane Matthew by county and sector County / Sector Damage Deaths Injuries Direct Indirect Brevard $174 million Broward $8.47 million Clay $3 million Duval >$25 million Flagler $73 million Indian River $28.8 million Martin $175,000 Miami-Dade $3.23 million Nassau $10 million Orange Palm Beach $22.3 million Putnam St. Johns $149.4 million St. Lucie $9.3 million Volusia $514.4 million Power grid $318.5 million Unspecified $152 million Totals $1.492 billion 3 11 16 Sources cited in text.

South Florida

Miami Metropolitan Area