DHAKA: As Hurricane Matthew sets its sights on the US, more than two million people have already been urged to flee their homes, with more evacuations likely as the deadly storm makes its way past the Bahamas.

State officials in Florida, South Carolina and Georgia cautioned residents not to hunker down at home if they live in the hurricane’s potential path.

Not all of the millions of people in Matthew’s path have been ordered to leave, but the mandatory evacuations are the largest since Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast from North Carolina to New York in 2012, reports CNN.

Early Thursday (October 6) the hurricane, which already has killed at least 15 people in several Caribbean countries, was about 60 miles (95 kilometers) southeast of Nassau, Bahamas, and 255 miles (410 kilometers) from West Palm Beach, Florida.

The National Hurricane Center isn’t saying that Matthew will make landfall in Florida, but that the center of the storm will get “very near” the Atlantic Coast, possibly as a Category 4 hurricane.

Matthew was packing 125 mph (205 kph) winds as the eye neared the northwest Bahamas, the National Hurricane Center said.

President Barack Obama warned Americans in the storm’s path to pay attention and take any evacuation orders seriously. He said if the core of the storm strikes Florida, it could have a “devastating effect.”

Florida Gov. Rick Scott warned 1.5 million residents they had 24 hours to get ready, or better yet, get going.

Scott has repeatedly warned that a direct hit by Matthew could lead to “massive destruction” on a level unseen since Hurricane Andrew devastated the Miami area in 1992.

He has activated 1,500 National Guard members in preparation for the storm.

The voluntary and mandatory evacuations currently stretch from the Miami area all the way north to the Florida-Georgia border.

BDST: 1723 HRS, OCT 06, 2016
NJ/BD