Fire collapses portion of interstate highway in Atlanta

A fire is shown out of control underneath a highway overpass on interstate 85 before a section of the highway collapsed, according to the city's fire and rescue agency in Atlanta, Georgia, March 30, 2017. Atlanta Fire Rescue/Handout via REUTERS

By Rich McKay

ATLANTA (Reuters) – A bridge on Interstate 85 in Atlanta collapsed on Thursday as a fire raged beneath it, authorities said, sending black smoke into the air and briefly causing a fireball before the structure fell in on itself.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in the incident, which snarled traffic for miles (km).

“We are trying to assess the damage and determine how quick we can repair it,” Republican Georgia Governor Nathan Deal told a news conference.

Black smoke billowed so thickly from the bridge in the heart of Atlanta that area residents told local media they thought a storm was coming or that the sun had set early when the fire started at around 6 p.m. local time.

Then flames rose several stories high from under the bridge before a section collapsed around 7:30 p.m., even as dozens of firefighters fought it, causing a brief fireball.

Hours after the collapse, vehicles were still stuck trying to get off the highway. Deal declared a state of emergency for Fulton County, which encompasses much of the Atlanta area. Government offices in Atlanta were set to open at 10 a.m. on Friday to give people extra time to get to work.

Deal said the fire that led to the highway collapse appeared to have been fueled by a large pile of PVC piping under the structure. Authorities did not know who owned the piping or who had put it under the bridge, Deal said.

All lanes of the freeway were blocked, and authorities urged motorists to stay away from the interstate in all directions.

“We cannot have any more traffic on the highway,” Atlanta Police Department Sergeant Warren Pickard told a news conference. “We need everyone to stay put and not travel at this time. We need the roads clear for emergency vehicles.”

Local TV images showed bright orange flames and thick black smoke billowing into the sky above the freeway as a line of cars stood halted on either side.

Traffic was jammed on nearby roads and freeways as well, according to online congestion maps.

Television station WSB-TV showed what appeared to be barrels and coils under the bridge.

The station reported that fire crews from nearby Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport were brought in to help and were spraying foam typically used for airplane crashes onto the flames.

(Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Writing by Dan Whitcomb and Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Sandra Maler and Bill Rigby)

Top U.S. chicken producing state suffers first case of bird flu

quarantine researcher checking chickens on poultry farm for bird flu

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Georgia has confirmed its first-ever case of bird flu in commercial poultry, its agriculture department said on Monday, widening an outbreak of the disease into the United States’ biggest chicken meat-producing state.

A flock of 18,000 chickens used for breeding was culled after testing positive for H7 bird flu, according to the agriculture department. It said the birds in far northwestern Georgia were likely infected with a form of the virus that is not highly lethal because the flock did not show signs of illness.

The discovery came after officials in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee confirmed cases of highly pathogenic, or lethal, and low pathogenic H7N9 bird flu in breeding operations this month. U.S. officials have said the risk of the disease spreading to people from poultry or making food unsafe is low.

But the spread of highly pathogenic bird flu to poultry in new states would represent a financial risk for meat companies because it could kill more birds or require flocks to be culled. It could also trigger more import bans from other countries after South Korea and other buyers limited U.S. poultry shipments following highly pathogenic cases in Tennessee.

The worst-ever U.S. outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu in poultry in 2014 and 2015 killed about 50 million birds, most of which were egg-laying hens in Iowa.

More than 200,000 breeding chickens in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky have been killed in recent weeks by high and low pathogenic bird flu or culled to contain the virus, according to state officials. U.S. poultry producers had about 55.1 million breeder hens on hand as of March 1, according to the USDA.

In 2015, Georgia produced 7.9 billion pounds of chicken meat valued at $4.2 billion, the agency said.

“Poultry is the top sector of our number one industry, agriculture, and we are committed to protecting the livelihoods of the many farm families that are dependent on it,” Gary Black, Georgia’s agriculture commissioner, said in a statement.

Some companies are still feeling pressure related to the 2015 losses.

On Monday, Cal-Maine Foods, the biggest U.S. egg producer, said its quarterly sales fell about 32 percent from a year ago because prices were under pressure after farmers increased production in response to an outbreak two years ago.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Andrew Hay)

Severe storm kills one as it sweeps northern Georgia

By Gina Cherelus

(Reuters) – Strong winds, quarter-sized hail and lightning ripped through towns in northern Georgia, killing one man and leaving several cities with severe damage and power outages on Wednesday, local media and officials said.

The man died when a tree fell on a home near Braselton, about 53 miles northeast of Atlanta, just before 9 p.m. on Tuesday, according to Fox 5, a local news affiliate, citing the Jackson County Emergency Management office.

The name of the deceased was not immediately released.

As the storm slowly crossed the state on Tuesday afternoon, gusts of winds of about 60 miles per hour toppled trees and power lines, the National Weather Service said. Photos on social media showed large balls of hail and massive fallen trees.

A severe thunderstorm warning was issued until 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday for about 10 counties. By Wednesday morning there were no active storm watches, warnings or advisories for the area.

Several school systems in the north of the state said they would begin classes two hours late on Wednesday due to the power outages and large number of downed trees.

More than 170,000 residents in north Georgia and the Atlanta metro area lost power at the height of the storm, according to Georgia Power. Most of them were reconnected before dawn.

“Service restored to more than 135k overnight, additional crews moving in from other parts of state. Thank you for your continued patience,” Georgia Power (@GeorgiaPower) wrote on Twitter.

Georgia Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) reported that only about 15,000 customers were without power in north Georgia and the Atlanta area by early Wednesday.

(Reporting by Gina Cherelus; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Bird flu hits another U.S. farm that supplies Tyson Foods

quarantine researcher checking chickens on poultry farm for bird flu

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Bird flu that is highly lethal to poultry has infected a second commercial chicken farm in Tennessee that supplies Tyson Foods Inc, company and state officials said on Thursday.

The finding expands an outbreak near the major chicken-producing states of Alabama and Georgia, and is the second in the type of breeder flock crucial for keeping the chicken-meat industry supplied with birds. A case of less dangerous bird flu was confirmed in Alabama on Thursday.

In Tennessee, authorities have started to cull the infected flock of 55,000 chickens in Lincoln County, to contain the highly pathogenic H7N9 flu, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The farm was in a quarantine zone established after authorities this month found the same strain of the disease in a flock of about 73,500 chickens less than 2 miles (3.2 km) away, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture said. That farm also supplied Tyson, the world’s biggest chicken company.

“I’m sure on the part of the company they’re quite concerned and going back and reviewing all of their information and data to determine how in the world this got into the buildings,” said Bret Marsh, state veterinarian in Indiana, which had the nation’s only highly pathogenic bird flu case in poultry in 2016.

The initial case in Tennessee was the nation’s first infection of highly pathogenic bird flu at a commercial operation in more than a year. Tennessee also recently detected a less-dangerous case of low-pathogenic flu in another chicken flock.

On Thursday, Alabama said the USDA confirmed a suspected case of low-pathogenic flu in a guinea fowl at a flea market as H7N9. Aviagen, the world’s largest poultry breeding company, has culled chickens in the state over concerns about the disease.

Highly pathogenic bird flu led to the deaths of about 50 million birds, mostly egg-laying hens, in the United States in 2014 and 2015.

Another widespread outbreak could represent a financial blow for poultry operators because it could kill more birds or require flocks to be culled. It also would likely trigger more import bans from trading partners, after South Korea, Japan and other countries limited imports after the first highly pathogenic case in Tennessee.

China has also been grappling with an outbreak of H7N9, which has killed 161 people since October. U.S. authorities have said that strain is genetically distinct from the H7N9 in Tennessee and that the risk of the disease spreading to people from poultry or making food unsafe is low.

Tyson said it worked with Tennessee and federal officials to quickly euthanize birds in the infected flock and did not expect disruptions to its chicken supply.

“Our business is diversified and scaled across multiple states, so we plan to meet our customers’ needs,” spokesman Worth Sparkman said.

Tyson shares fell 1.7 percent to close at $62.00 on Thursday.

The company has said it tests all the birds it owns for the virus and flocks diagnosed with highly pathogenic flu are not processed.

Wild birds can carry the disease without showing signs of sickness and transmit it to poultry through feces, feathers or other forms of contract.

(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Matthew Lewis)

Storms continue slamming U.S. South after killing at least 18

Air Force airman surveys the damage done by January tornado in Georgia

By Letitia Stein

TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) – A dangerous weekend weather system killed at least 18 people in the U.S. South, with Georgia officials reporting more than a dozen deaths on Sunday after severe thunderstorms and tornadoes buffeted several states.

Seven people died in Cook County, Georgia, state emergency managers said, with a mobile home park particularly hard hit, according to reports. Photos showed collapsed buildings, destroyed rooftops, toppled trees and debris-littered fields.

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal declared an emergency for seven counties in the south-central part of the state, warning that dangerous conditions persisted as wind and flood warnings remained in effect for much of the state early on Monday.

“I urge all Georgians to exercise caution and vigilance in order to remain safe and prevent further loss of life or injuries,” Deal said in a news release.

First Baptist Church Adel, located in the Cook County seat near the Florida-Georgia state line, was sheltering more than 50 people, said pastor Bill Marlette, who had just helped inform a family that two of their relatives were among the dead.

“There’s a lot of hurting people right now,” he said in a telephone interview. “There’s just a sense of shock.”

The storms in Georgia, which killed 14 people, followed a predawn tornado in Mississippi on Saturday that killed four. Severe weather also injured more than 50 others and damaged about 480 homes in Mississippi.

A few storms continued to threatened coastal areas in Georgia on Sunday night, said Mark McKinnon, a spokesman for the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for Rome and Calhoun until 3.30 a.m. EST, advising residents to move to higher ground.

The system prompted forecasters to issue a rare “high risk” warning of severe storms threatening parts of southern Georgia, north and central Florida and Alabama on Sunday, the first such warning since 2014. South Carolina could also see severe weather.

In Alabama, some 29,000 power outages were reported as of Sunday afternoon, Alabama Power said. Several thousand had also been without power in Mississippi.

The severe weather was expected to last through Sunday night.

As the system churned up the East coast, emergency management officials warned New York City residents to brace for winds of up to 70 mph through Monday night, with several inches of drenching rains. Flood advisories and watches were issued for four of the city’s five boroughs.

On the west coast, heavy rains from a separate system drenched parts of Southern California, with forecasters warning the storm could be the most severe in several years.

(Additional reporting by Frank McGurty and Chris Michaud in New York, David Beasley in Atlanta and Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, Calif.; Editing by Andrea Ricci, Peter Cooney, Chris Michaud and Michael Perry)

Wildfires scorch U.S. Southeast, forecast adds to concerns

A heavy air tanker drops fire retardant over the Boteler wildfire near Hayesville, North Carolina, U.S.

By Rich McKay

ATLANTA (Reuters) – Dozens of wildfires burned in the U.S. Southeast on Tuesday, scorching tens of thousands of acres of forest and sending plumes of smoke across hundreds of miles of western North Carolina, northern and central Georgia and parts of eastern Tennessee.

Air quality alerts were issued across swaths of those states, with hazy smoke reaching as far south as Atlanta and north to Knoxville, Tennessee. People in the affected areas were urged to stay indoors or limit outside activity, officials said.

The fires could take weeks to extinguish, and a lack of rain in the forecast has added to concerns, said Wendy Burnett, spokeswoman for the Georgia Forestry Commission.

“The extended drought across the Southeast is the number one culprit,” Burnett said in an interview. “Rain is going to be what it takes to knock this down anytime soon. We’re doing every rain dance we know.”

North Carolina has been the hardest hit with more than 36,800 acres in western parts of the state burning in 15 major fires that are in various stages of being controlled, according to the governor’s office.

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory has ordered a state of emergency in 25 counties. The fires closed parts of the Appalachian Trail, along with parks, roads and stretches of highways, and forced the evacuation of about 1,000 residents, the governor’s office said in a statement.

In Georgia, more than 28,000 acres are burning, according to Burnett, forcing the evacuation of about 60 homes. The largest fire is on the Rough Ridge in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, she said, with about 19,500 acres burning.

That blaze was caused by a lightning strike, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Michelle Burnett, while several others on federal land remain under investigation.

In Tennessee, nearly 16,000 acres have burned in 67 active fires, according to the state Department of Agriculture’s Division of Forestry.

Arson is suspected in at least one major fire in Tennessee, according to local news accounts. Others were caused by camp fires, farm equipment and a tossed cigarette, officials and state websites said.

“It’s been so dry, that one spark is all it takes to burn a forest,” said the Georgia Forestry Commission’s Burnett.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Alan Crosby)

Focus shifts to recovery and flooding as Matthew heads out to sea

A Baptist church is surrounded by flood waters after Hurricane Matthew hit Lumberton, North Carolina

By Judy Royal

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. (Reuters) – Residents of the southeastern United States ravaged by Hurricane Matthew turned their focus on Monday toward recovery and clean-up, but officials in several states warned that deadly flooding could continue as swollen rivers crest in the coming days.

Matthew, the most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007, was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Sunday after its rampage through the Caribbean killed 1,000 people in Haiti.

In the United States, the death toll rose to at least 19 people.

While power was being restored in some areas, 1.6 million people were without power in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Virginia, down from Sunday’s peak of 2.2 million. Officials were working to clear streets of fallen trees and abandoned vehicles.

With five people reported missing and rivers rising, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory said he expected the death toll to rise. Eight people in the state were known to have died so far.

People look around the debris of the pier damaged by Hurricane Matthew in Surfside Beach, South Carolina,

People look around the debris of the pier damaged by Hurricane Matthew in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, U.S. October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Randall Hill

McCrory said several swelling rivers were expected to hit record levels and would not crest for days.

“Hurricane Matthew is off the map, but it is still with us and it is still deadly,” he said.

The National Weather Service said “life-threatening flooding” would continue on Monday over eastern portions of the state.

Many coastal and inland communities remained under water, either from coastal storm surge or overrun rivers and creeks.

All 2,000 residents of Princeville, were told on Sunday to evacuate due to flash flood risks. The town lies on the Tar River about 25 miles (40 km) north of Greenville.

Several dams have breached in the area around Cumberland County, south of Raleigh, Michael Martin, fire marshal for the city of Fayetteville, said by phone.

Swiftwater rescue teams are still on alert and there have been 255 water rescue calls and 701 people rescued.

In neighboring South Carolina, a vehicle trying to cross a flooded roadway in Florence County was swept away by flood waters, killing one person, Governor Nikki Haley said.

Jake Williams, a resident of Florence, said on early Monday that his power had been out since Saturday morning.

“Trees are down in every neighborhood on almost every road,” he said, adding “I am no weather man, but would guess that the gusts of wind were near 100 mph (160 km), and with soggy ground a lot trees couldn’t stand up to it.”

In Virginia Beach, the city said it had received over 13 inches (33 cm) of rain and 55,000 people remained without power on Sunday night. The city said that some 200 vehicles were abandoned and many roads remained impassable.

Norfolk, which declared a state of emergency, said efforts were under way to clear streets of debris and abandoned vehicles with city offices, libraries and recreational centers set to re-open Monday.

ROOFTOP RESCUE

The storm center was about 200 miles (320 km) off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and heading away from land, according to the National Hurricane Center’s Sunday 5 p.m. (2100 GMT) report. It discontinued all tropical storm warnings.

The storm still packed hurricane force winds as far as 90 miles (150 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds 240 miles (390 km) away.

U.S. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Georgia and Florida, freeing up federal money to help the states repair damaged infrastructure and remove debris.

McCrory said 334 rescue workers risked their lives carrying out 877 rescues overnight.

In one of the dramatic rescues in North Carolina, out-of-state firefighters helped save three people from the roof of an SUV in inland Cumberland County, where more than 500 rescues took place.

Flash flooding turned a creek into a “roaring, raging river” that swept the vehicle off the roadway on Saturday night, said Battalion Chief Joe Downey of the Fire Department of New York. He was part of a team from three states that carried out 64 rescues on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

“Water was almost up to the roof of the SUV,” Downey said in a telephone interview. “It was bad. They had nowhere to go.”

Anthony Branch carries belongings from his home as flood waters rise after Hurricane Matthew in Lumberton, North Carolina

Anthony Branch carries belongings from his home as flood waters rise after Hurricane Matthew in Lumberton, North Carolina October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Keane

Though Hurricane Matthew has moved out to sea, the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs until Nov. 30, remains active.

The National Hurricane Center said on Monday morning that tropical storm Nicole was expected to strengthen into Tuesday. The storm is around 500 miles (800 km) south of Bermuda and moving northward towards the island.

(Additional reporting by Harriet McLeod in Charleston, S.C., Eric Johnson in Seattle, and Frank McGurty, Chris Michaud and Gina Cherlus in New York, Writing by Timothy Mclaughlin; Editing by Alison Williams)

Deadly Hurricane Matthew touches land on southeastern U.S. coast

Hurricane Matthew's center is seen near the coast of South Carolina, U.S. in this NOAA's GOES-East satellite image

By Scott Malone and Harriet McLeod

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla./CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) – Hurricane Matthew made landfall on the U.S. coast in 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 in the U.S. Southeast.

The storm, which left flooding and wind damage in Florida, soaked coastal Georgia and South Carolina on Saturday but was packing a diminished punch. Wind speeds had dropped below 85 miles per hour (135 kph), making it a Category 1 hurricane, the weakest on the Saffir-Simpson scale of 1 to 5.

It made landfall near the town of McClellanville, north of Charleston, according to the National Hurricane Service, which warned a “serious inland flooding event” was unfolding.

At least four deaths in Florida were attributed to the storm, which knocked out power to least 1.5 million households and businesses in the southeastern United States.

In Florida, 775,000 were without power, according to state utilities, while in South Carolina 433,000 had no power, Governor Nikki Haley said. Georgia Power said at least 275,000 were without power in the state.

osh Rhodes (L) and Tim Rossland look at a fallen tree in Telfair Square after Hurricane Matthew passed through in Savannah, Georgia

Josh Rhodes (L) and Tim Rossland look at a fallen tree in Telfair Square after Hurricane Matthew passed through in Savannah, Georgia October 8, 2016. REUTERS/Tami Chappell

Roads in Jackson Beach were littered with wood, including sections of a historic quarter-mile-long pier, and foot-deep (15 cm) water clogged intersections. Moderate damage could be seen on beachfront businesses, with fences and awnings torn down.

“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 knocked down by the wind and waves near the beach. “We were prepared to lose our house.”

Governor Rick Scott of Florida said more than 6,000 people stayed in shelters on Friday night, but he appeared relieved at a news conference on Saturday the storm did not do more harm.

“We’re all blessed that Matthew stayed off our coast,” he said, though he also described 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 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. At the High Battery at Charleston peninsula’s tip, waves were close to topping the sea wall with spray splashing onto East Bay Street.

“It blew like hell,” said resident and writer Roger Pinckney, 70.

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.

The toll in the United States was far less devastating than in Haiti, where at least 877 people were killed, a death toll that ticked up as information trickled in from remote areas, according to a Reuters tally of tolls from officials.

Matthew rampaged 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 into fragile coastal villages. The aid group Doctors Without Borders was flying people in by helicopter to deal with emerging cholera cases and warned there was a risk of a larger outbreak.

The Mesa Verde, a U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock ship, was en route to Haiti to support relief efforts. The ship has heavy-lift helicopters, bulldozers, fresh-water delivery vehicles and two surgical operating rooms. The U.S. government was also airlifting in blankets, hygiene kits, kitchen sets and plastic sheeting for emergency shelters, according to a statement by the United States Agency for International Development.

A truck passes through flooded water at a business after Hurricane Matthew passed through in Savannah, Georgia

A truck passes through flooded water at a business after Hurricane Matthew passed through in Savannah, Georgia October 8, 2016. REUTERS/Tami Chappell

FLOODS PREDICTED

The NHC predicted the storm would possibly strike the U.S. coast on Saturday morning or afternoon.

“Regardless of whether or not the center makes landfall, hurricane-force winds in the northern eyewall will lash much of the coast of South Carolina,” an NHC advisory said.

Matthew sideswiped Florida’s coast with winds of up to 120 mph (195 kph) but did not make landfall.

Governors in several states held news conferences on Saturday morning, including Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory warned storm surges and high winds could cause serious problems and was “extremely concerned” that the hurricane downgrade would cause residents not to take warnings seriously.

Forecasters warned of flooding as 15 inches (40 cm) of rain were expected to fall in parts of the region along with massive storm surges and high tides.

Some 8 inches (20 cm) of rain had fallen in the Savannah, Georgia area where Matthew downed trees and caused 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.

Florida officials urged residents not to rush back to homes that still lacked power on streets clogged with debris.

“You are going to continue to see some flooding, damage and power outages,” Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry told reporters on Saturday, adding that the roads into the beach area would be reopened to residents around noon.

(Additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee, Zachary Goelman in Orlando, Fla. and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by James Dalgleish)

More than 800 killed by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti, storm lashes Florida

Rain falls and winds caused by storm are seen while Hurricane Matthew approaches in Melbourne, Florida,

By Joseph Guyler Delva and Scott Malone

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 rolled 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, potentially the first major hurricane to hit the United States head on in more than a decade, triggered mass evacuations along the coast from Florida through Georgia and into South Carolina and North Carolina.

Southern Florida escaped the brunt of the storm overnight, but U.S. President Barack Obama urged people not to be complacent and to heed local officials’ 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 reported dozens of people killed in the hills and coast of Haiti’s fertile western tip, 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 by sea and river water, 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 USS Mesa Verde, a U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock ship, was heading for Haiti to support relief efforts. A Navy spokesman said the ship would take heavy-lift helicopters, bulldozers and fresh water delivery vehicles. The ship has a surgical team and two operating rooms on board.

FLORIDA POWER CUTS

Matthew skirted Florida on Friday with winds of up to 120 miles per hour (195 kph), but did not make landfall. The U.S. National Hurricane Center’s hurricane warning extended up the Atlantic coast from central Florida through Georgia and South Carolina and into North Carolina.

In Daytona Beach, Florida, 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 damage was evident 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 had cut power to some 827,000 households in Florida, he said.

Matthew passed over the Bahamas on Thursday and on Friday armed guards patrolled the outside of Fox Hill prison in the capital of Nassau, the Bahamas’ only prison facility, after the storm knocked down several parts of its external concrete walls.

Matthew also tore off part of the side of the RIU Paradise Island, one of the major hotel resorts in Nassau, exposing several guest rooms to the elements.

No deaths were reported from the Bahamas, but residents of Nassau were still without power on Friday.

At 2 p.m. (1800 GMT), Matthew’s eye, or center, was brushing the northeast Florida coast, the NHC said. Its winds had weakened slightly to 115 mph (185 kph) and it was moving at around 12 mph (19 kph) 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.

No significant damage or injuries were reported in cities and towns in south Florida where the storm brought down trees and power lines, CNN and local media reported.

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.

After losing some strength on Thursday night, Matthew was still a Category 3 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity. Category 5 is the strongest.

The U.S. National Weather Service said it could be the most powerful storm to strike northeast Florida in 118 years. The last major hurricane, classified as a storm bearing sustained winds of more than 110 mph (177 kph), to make landfall on U.S. shores was Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

SOME FLORIDIANS RELUCTANT TO LEAVE

In St. Augustine just south of Jacksonville, about half of the 14,000 residents have refused to heed evacuation orders despite warnings of an eight-foot (2.4- meter) storm surge that could sink entire neighborhoods, Mayor Nancy Shaver said in a telephone interview from the area’s emergency operations center.

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 more had moved inland or to the state’s west coast, Scott said. Georgia and South Carolina had also opened dozens of shelters for evacuees.

South Carolina officials warned residents of potentially damaging flooding and storm surge once Matthew arrives there.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and a senior FEMA official called both candidates for the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 8, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, to brief them on Friday them about the storm.

(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)

Death toll in Haiti surges, storm hugs Florida coast

A pedestrian runs across a street as the eye of Hurricane Matthew approaches Daytona Beach, Florida,

By Scott Malone and Zachary Goelman

ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) – Hurricane Matthew, carrying winds of 120 miles per hour (195 kph), lashed central Florida on Friday, hugging the Atlantic coast as it moved north and threatened more destruction after killing more than 500 people and leaving thousands homeless in Haiti.

Matthew, the first major hurricane that could hit the United States head on in more than a decade, triggered mass evacuations along the coast from Florida through Georgia and into South Carolina and North Carolina.

Southern Florida escaped the brunt of the storm overnight, but U.S. President Barack Obama and other officials urged people farther north not to get complacent.

“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 and people continue to need to follow the instructions of their local officials over the next 24, 48, 72 hours,” Obama told reporters after a briefing with emergency management and other officials.

The Florida city of Jacksonville could face significant flooding, Florida Governor Rick Scott said. The storm had cut power to some 600,000 households in the state, he told a news conference.

In the Caribbean country of Haiti, where poor rural communities were ravaged by Matthew, the death toll surged to at least 572 people 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 smashed through the tip of 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.

Cellphone networks were down and roads were flooded by sea and river water in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas.

Aid has been slow to reach towns and villages around the peninsula. 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.

At 10:00 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT), Matthew’s eye, or center, was brushing the Florida coast near the central city of Daytona Beach, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

“The winds are ferocious right now,” said Jeff Piotrowski, a 40-year-old storm chaser from Tulsa, Oklahoma, who early on Friday was near Cape Canaveral, home to the country’s main space launch site. The storm downed power lines and trees and destroyed billboards in Cape Canaveral, he said.

No significant damage or injuries were reported in West Palm Beach and other cities and towns in south Florida where the storm brought down trees and power lines earlier in the night, CNN and local media reported.

FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY

Craig Fugate, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said he was concerned that relatively light damage so far could give people farther north 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. People should also be aware the hurricane carried more than just ferocious winds, he said.

“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.”

NASA and the U.S. Air Force, which operate the Cape Canaveral launch site, had taken steps to safeguard personnel and equipment. A team of 116 employees was bunkered down inside Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Control Center to ride out the hurricane.

Matthew lessened in intensity on Thursday night and into Friday morning, the National Hurricane Center said, but was still a Category 3 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity. Category 5 is the strongest.

It could either plow inland or tear along the Atlantic coast through Friday night, the Miami-based center said. The U.S. National Weather Service said the storm could be the most powerful to strike northeast Florida in 118 years.

The NHC’s hurricane warning extended up the Atlantic coast from southern Florida through Georgia and into South Carolina. The last major hurricane, classified as a storm bearing sustained winds of more than 110 mph (177 kph), to make landfall on U.S. shores was Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

Damage and potential casualties in the Bahamas were still unclear as Matthew passed near the capital, Nassau, on Thursday and then moved out over Grand Bahama Island.

Governor Scott has called on some 1.5 million people in coastal areas of Florida to evacuate and he continued to urge people to move away from danger on Friday.

As of Friday morning, about 22,000 people were in Florida shelters and more had moved inland or to the state’s west coast, Scott said. Georgia and South Carolina had also opened dozens of shelters for evacuees.

Those states, as well as North Carolina, declared states of emergency, empowering their governors to mobilize the National Guard. Obama declared states of emergency in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, a move that authorized federal agencies to coordinate disaster relief efforts.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Eric Walsh and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Gabriel Stargardter in Miami; Joseph Guyler Delva in Haiti; Zachery Fagenson in Wellington, Fla.; Irene Klotz in Portland, Maine; Laila Kearney in New York; Writing by Frances Kerry; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Alistair Bell)