and waiting in queues for petrol, after president Barack Obama and state governors in the region warned millions of Americans to leave their homes or prepare for the devastating hurricane Matthew.
Matthew, the most powerful hurricane in the Caribbean in a decade, hit the Bahamas after catastrophic damage in Cuba and Haiti, and after it left at least 17 dead in the Dominican Republic.
A large part of the areas that have been affected in Haiti remain cut off from the rest of the world, due to the collapse of a bridge. The access is not expected to be restored before Saturday or Sunday. The United Nations estimate that about 300,000 people in the country need immediate assistance.
The president of the united states Barack Obama, who cancelled his visit to Florida, where I participated in a campaign rally for Hillary Clinton, warned today the American people that hurricane Matthew is “a serious storm”.
Obama called on the residents to obey the instructions for evacuation of the cities, and said that the governors of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina have declared their states in a state of emergency, which allows them to mobilise the national Guard.
Hurricane Matthew, which is ranked in tier 3 of the πεντάβαθμης scale of hurricanes (from the tier 4, which was originally a), accompanied by winds of about 195 kilometres per hour, the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
The governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley has ordered the evacuation of the coasts, where live about one million. About a quarter of the residents of those expected to obey the directive, according to the Athenian Agency.
The governor of Florida, Rick Scott has asked residents of areas in the coast to leave, even where it has not been issued an evacuation order, or to use the shelters in the state. Eleven beach apartments in the state are under a mandatory evacuation, and four hospitals have transferred patients elsewhere, said Scott. “If you make a u-turn at the last minute (the hurricane), will not have the time to prepare. You will put your life and that of your own in jeopardy,” he warned.
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Some petrol stations have sold out, but officials of the state said that they had not been notified of any significant shortage of gasoline at service stations.
In Miami, an employee of the supermarket said that there was a lot of traffic to the store and bought water and canned food mainly, from fear of the world that will be locked in their homes.
The airline company American Airlines said that canceling flights in three airports of south Florida and all flights to and from Jacksonville tomorrow afternoon.
AGONY in the southeast of the united states: Queues for petrol and food, in view of the hurricane Matthew
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