Family with Idaho ties braces for Hurricane Matthew

Officials say winds are picking up and thousands are without power in Florida as Hurricane Matthew approaches.

The National Hurricane Center says the eye of Matthew is northwest of Grand Bahama Island, about 70 miles east of West Palm Beach, Florida, and a wind gust of 50 mph has been recorded at Palm Beach International Airport.

“This storm will kill you,” Florida Governor Rick Scott told the public during a news conference Thursday afternoon. “We don’t have that much time left.

As of 9:30 pm Thursday, Matthew is still a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (210 . It is moving northwest at 13 mph. Two-million people are being told to evacuate ahead of the storm.

“I’m underneath my porch right now,” Marie Garza told KIFI/KIDK Thursday. “The wind is picking up.”

Garza, her husband and two kids live in Orlando. Their in-laws are from the Idaho Falls area. They are taking the warnings seriously.

“If you are along the coast, and you have been ordered to evacuate, you should take it serious and evacuate.”

Earlier Thursday, President Barack Obama made an emergency declaration for Florida. Obama’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate efforts to protect lives, property and alleviate the suffering caused by the hurricane.

Emergency declarations are designed to help provide emergency services to protect lives and property, and to lessen the threat of a catastrophe.

“Matthew is likely to produce devastating impacts,” Gov. Scott said.

Scott says people in the northeast part of the state still have time to evacuate and residents could still choose to go to a shelter. For Garza, they are staying put at the home in Orlando as the community is under a mandatory curfew through 5 am Friday.

“Our back up plan is to go to a friend’s house. We do have a friend that is a little safer away. So if we have to, we will take our bags and our person belongings and just head there,” Garza said when asked if she and her family were prepared to evacuate.

Although the state has food and water supplies ready for after the storm, Scott cautioned that people need to be able to take care of themselves for the first three days.

We need to stay where we are going to be, which would be home with our family stocked up on food, water, supplies and gas. A gassed up car,” Garza said.

The coordinator for Haiti’s Interior Ministry in the area hit hardest by Hurricane Matthew says the confirmed death toll in that southwestern zone is now 283.

Emmanuel Pierre told The Associated Press late Thursday that he expects the toll to rise as authorities reach remote places that were left isolated by the storm.

The overall death toll in Haiti is not clear. Shortly before Pierre spoke, the headquarters for Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency had put the number of confirmed deaths for the whole country at 122.

Bodies have started to appear as waters recede in some areas two days after Matthew smashed concrete walls, flattened palm trees and tore roofs off homes.

Hurricane Matthew is expected to make landfall in Florida overnight Thursday.