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Hurricane Matthew intensifies, hundreds of thousands flee homes in US

NEW YORK, October 6. /TASS/. Hurricane Matthew has intensified to Category 4 as it makes its way to the US East Coast. Hundreds of thousands of Americans flee their homes, away from the coastline in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. 

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Hurricane Mathew has intensified. It says the wind speed in the epicenter is currently 61.1 meters per second. The epicenter is 290 kilometers away from West-Palm-Beach (Florida) resort and is heading north-west at the speed of 6.1 meters per second. The hurricane warning zone has been extended to the city of Edisto Beach (South Carolina). 

Florida Governor Rick Scott has issued dire warning, saying the state could be facing its "biggest evacuation ever". "We have to prepare for a direct hit," he said. "This is going to kill people," Scott said of Hurricane Matthew at a press conference.

Governors in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina declared states of emergency. More than two million local residents have been urged to evacuate. In Florida, which can be hit by the hurricane already within the next two days, 6,000 national guards were placed on standby.

Meanwhile, Reuters has reported that the death toll from the deadly hurricane has reached 140, 136 people killed in Haiti.