The evil eye! Miami braced for looming hurricane in shape of skull
THIS is the sinister sight that is bringing fear and mayhem to much of America’s east coast.
Hurricane Matthew is expected to batter Florida with its destructive 125mph winds today. And amazingly, this satellite image, which shows the eye of the storm in blue and green with the white representing some of the islands in its wake, looks like a skull.
Two million people in the US were last night told to evacuate as President Obama declared a state of emergency in Florida.
Roads in Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina were jammed and panicked residents stripped supermarkets of food.
All the resorts at Disney World in Orlando will close today – the first full-day closure for 11 years – as will the SeaWorld and Legoland attractions nearby. Universal Studios said it would shut its theme parks and cancelled shows until tomorrow.
Orlando and Daytona Beach were expected to be among the worst affected as forecasters predicted 12in of rainfall and river and coastal surges of up to 9ft.
Florida Governor Rick Scott warned ‘this storm will kill you’ after it claimed at least 140 lives as it tore through the Caribbean.
He said: ‘You need to leave. Evacuate, evacuate, evacuate. Time’s running out. Leave. This is life and death’.
More than 12million people were put under hurricane watches and 2,500 National Guard troops were deployed with another 4,000 on standby.
The 400-mile wide Category Four hurricane was expected to skirt 250 miles southwest of Palm Beach, but a change of course could land directly on the state. Yesterday hospitals along the east coast were evacuated, schools were closed and Miami airport shut with 2,500 flights cancelled.
The majority of those killed by Matthew so far were in Haiti, where at least 136 lost their lives. Matthew also caused widespread destruction in the Bahamas and Cuba.
Meanwhile, tropical storm Nicole was upgraded to hurricane status last night as it swirled south of Bermuda.