Hurricane Matthew ravaged the Carribean countries specifically Haiti, Cuba, and the Bahamas as the strong tropical system headed for the United States. Florida residents near the Atlantic Ocean were urged to evacuate inland and to higher ground as the Category 4 storm approached the Sunshine State.

As of late Thursday night and early Friday morning, Hurricane Matthew’s winds were sustained in the 130-140 MPH range.

The National Weather Service released an update on Hurricane Matthew, and it included some strong language that forecasters and the general public hasn’t seen since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.

As the storm approached, many Florida residents headed for the highways to head out of danger. Others decided to stock up on supplies and stay put as they ride out the storm despite many efforts to get people to go elsewhere.

The eye of the storm is headed towards land as the storm continues to deliver strong winds and heavy rain across the entire state. Florida’s Eastern-most counties will see the brunt of the storm as Matthew heads closer inland before heading Northeast close to the Carolinas.

There are strong bands throughout Florida as shown in CNN’s reporting below. The conditions witnessed during the live report is why Florida officials were adamant on people evacuating especially on the Eastern counties of Florida.

As of Friday morning, electrical companies are already reporting outages. The number is low currently, but you should expect to see millions of people without power before Hurricane Matthew is gone. It has already ravaged many Carribean countries and claimed the lives of hundreds of people. The cleanup effort will take many months as the countries look to recover from the latest natural disaster.

It wouldn’t be surprising for President Obama to declare parts of Florida a natural disaster after the hurricane hammers the state. This will allow Florida to be able to get the proper and necessary resources to begin their clean up effort. This storm should be taken seriously as seen by the early reports. Follow CNN for the latest live updates as they keep you informed on the latest information about Hurricane Matthew.