User:Cyclone Toby/sandbox

Evacuations
"We have not seen a hurricane this strong in almost a decade.... If instructed to evacuate, don't wait. You can always repair and rebuild – and we'll be here to help you do that. The most important thing you can do is keep you and your family safe.""

- Florida Governor Rick Scott

With Matthew forecast to track roughly parallel to the Florida coastline, meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center noted that expected impacts would be difficult to quantify for specific locations. Relatively small-scale deviations in the hurricane's track would drastically change the potential impacts; a wobble west would bring Category 3 conditions onshore while a wobble east would keep hurricane-force winds offshore. Mandatory evacuations began on October 5 for barrier islands in Brevard County; voluntary evacuations also took place in Duval, Flagler, and St. Lucie counties. By the morning of October 6, approximately 1.5 million people were under evacuation orders in Brevard, Broward, Clay, DeSoto, Duval, Flagler, Indian River, Martin, Miami-Dade, Nassau, Palm Beach, St. John's, St. Lucie, and Volusia counties. This included relocation of patients in various hospitals, including Baptist Medical Center Beaches, Health First Cape Canaveral Hospital, Florida Hospital Oceanside, Florida Hospital New Symrna, Baptist Medical Center Nassau, and Wuesthoff Medical Center. In a public warning, Governor Scott bluntly told residents that "this storm will kill you," should they choose to not evacuate. Road tolls were suspended in evacuating counties, and later to all affected counties. Gridlock on Interstate 10 out of Jacksonville hampered evacuation efforts. Approximately 17,000 people living on barrier islands in Martin County were urged to leave; however, many opted to ride out the storm.

Despite dire warnings from officials in the Jacksonville area, only 30 percent of residents in the coastal communities of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Neptune Beach evacuated. With the aforementioned communities only linked to the mainland by bridge, no emergency services would be available to them during the storm.


 * Evac info