Hurricane Matthew is currently bearing down on the US states of Florida, South and North Carolina & Georgia amid warnings of “catastrophic” damage that have led to mass evacuations in all four states. Meteorologists said the storm has decreased in power again and was now classified as category three after hitting Haiti.

Hurricane Matthew formed from a vigorous tropical wave that moved off the African coast on September 22, progressing on a westward track until it developed into a tropical storm while it was situated just to the east of the Leeward Islands on September 28. A day later, it became a hurricane while west of the Leeward Islands, and rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane (the first Category 5 Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Felix in 2007).

Winds currently reach up to 120 mph and carries water from the ocean making it at least 11 feet tall causing damage and, worse, rising the death toll.

The storm has already left a swath of destruction across Haiti, where at least 800 people have been reported dead and the number is expected to rise. Authorities are still trying to assess the scale of the damage caused to one of the world’s poorest countries.

The head of the Bahamas National Emergency Management Authority said the capital Nassau had taken the full brunt of the storm that also impacted  Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

After striking Florida and other parts of the Southeast, Hurricane Matthew will eventually move well offshore later this weekend. But incredibly, there is the possibility we may not be done with it then.

Both Florida and the northern Bahamas could see impacts from Matthew return early next week.

1.) Matthew moves in the general direction of the Florida peninsula and the northern Bahamas and continues heading southwest toward Cuba or the southeast Gulf of Mexico.
2.) Matthew could stall east of Florida in the northern Bahamas for a period of time before getting pulled back out to sea by the next incoming jet stream dip in the eastern states later next week.

Either way, Matthew lurking off the Southeast coast should keep surf high along the east coast of Florida and in parts of the Southeast USA next week.

If the centre of Matthew does move near or across the Florida peninsula, it could bring gusty winds and rain early next week to some of the same areas hit by its first pass, though these impacts may be nowhere near as significant.

Please take a moment, as you read this and pray for all those affected by Hurricane Matthew at this time.