Scott: Gov't "can't send in first responders to save you in the middle of the storm

Hurricane Matthew hit Florida’s eastern shores early this morning after numerous pleas from Governor Rick Scott to “evacuate, evacuate, evacuate.” The storm will keep impacting more areas of the state, and Scott warns those in its path to pay attention to the warnings. If residents stick around for the storm, don’t be surprised if no one comes to help, Scott told CBS This Morning by phone:

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The governor said 22,000 people have evacuated to the state’s more-than 150 shelters and 3,500 National Guard members are there. The state is providing preposition assets – food and water — and seeking additional resources from the federal government, including generators and tarps.

The governor is hopeful. Still, he urges everybody to “take care of yourselves” and evacuate if necessary

“I can’t send in first responders to save you in the middle of the storm. You’ve got to act responsibly and take care of yourself and your family,” Scott told “CBS This Morning” Friday.

According to officials, people who refused to evacuate from central Florida’s Atlantic coast are now calling for help, as the hurricane’s western eyeball brushes past Cape Canaveral, the AP reports.

Scott goes on to point out that the state has prepared all sorts of shelters for the storm, even those specific for special-needs residents … and even pets. Still, holdouts continue to cause problems by refusing to relocate, and then tying up emergency services when the storm hits. WESH reported that this morning as well:

No one wants to see any lives lost, of course, but limited resources have to be prioritized in a natural disaster — and the priority should be on evacuation and shoring up of pre-established shelters. Those who failed to “act responsibly” despite repeated warnings to evacuate will have to settle for lower priorities, especially to the extent that it puts first responders at high risk. People who refused to evacuate made their choices, and they shouldn’t expect other people to risk their lives to rescue them from their own stupidity.

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One of those priorities will be to get the power turned back on as soon as possible when the storm moves on. At the moment, 600,000 people have already lost power in Florida, but there has been some good news on that point, Scott told reporters in his morning briefing on Hurricane Matthew:

The news isn’t all good, though. NBC News reports that the storm track has changed, and now it looks like Matthew will hit Florida harder than first thought:

The storm surge may get a lot worse today and tomorrow, too:

“Matthew is still a major hurricane only 30 miles off the coast and due to Matthew’s size and angle of approach, a major to historic storm surge is beginning now and will continue through Saturday,” he said.

The storm surge is expected to reach between 7 and 11 feet — with the shoreline between Daytona Beach, Florida, and Hilton Head, South Carolina, facing the highest risk. During low tide Friday morning in Daytona Beach, large waves were already sweeping ashore.

“We are going to be at high tide just after lunchtime and it’s going to cause problems,” said The Weather Channel’s Jen Carfagno from the city, which was about 35 miles from the storm’s western eyewall at the time.

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So far Matthew has caused no confirmed casualties in the US (ABC News reports one dead), but it has devastated Haiti. The BBC reports over 400 killed, and that number will almost certainly go higher.

Thus far in the US, Matthew remains a Category 3 hurricane, a lower intensity than the predicted Category 4 landfall. That still makes it the worst storm in Florida since Hurricane Wilma in 2005, which cost 61 lives in the US and $21 billion in damage. That also was a Category 3 hurricane when it made landfall, so the danger remains very real.

We’ll update this post if new developments warrant.

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