Hurricane Matthew

[Kimbo]

For all our Members that are being affected by Hurricane Matthew, we hope that you are safe and wish you all the best!!

Hurricane Matthew will hammer parts of eastern Florida starting Thursday, and then spread up the coast of Georgia and the Carolinas Friday into the weekend.

As illustrated by the National Hurricane Center's (NHC) projected path map, and also explained below, the severity of any direct impacts will depend on how close the center of Matthew moves near the coast.

An important point to make is that landfall does NOT need to take place for the worst impacts to come ashore. The strongest winds and most drilling surge will come to the coast in the eyewall, which surrounds the eye. Landfall occurs when the calmest portion of the eye, or the center, comes ashore. Hurricane conditions could come ashore even if the center stays 20 to 30 miles offshore.

[dara]

The bad thing about this storm is that the entire SE Atlantic coast has to be on warning because of the shallow angle the storm is taking, and the size of the overall storm. The storm's eye may not make landfall on Florida, and the storm stays powerful as it bounces up the Gulf Stream. I saw the models that show it circling back, although weaker, after it skirts the Carolinas. At least there are no levees to break on the coast and people living below sea level, like in New Orleans for Katrina.

[Kimbo]

Unfortunately even if it doesn't land since it is so close to the coast it will cause destructive damage, not to mention the flooding and lets be honest the entire state of Florida is a flooding zone!! I feel for the people in the Bahamas which are being slammed right now!!And Like Dara said it will loop around

[dara]

Matthew keeps churning off shore, with no official landfall by the eye of the storm on the US Mainland. The good thing is that there won't be huge inland flooding by the remnants of the storm, but it just keeps going until it hits colder water, instead of slowing down due to ground friction.