Hurricane Matthew churned north along the coast of Florida on Friday, and state officials and forecasters shifted their focus to the danger of serious damage in Jacksonville later in the day. The hurricane stayed just far enough offshore to spare Central Florida a direct hit, and it weakened slightly overnight, but it was still a powerful Category 3 storm with winds of about 120 miles per hour. The storm was blamed for the deaths of more than 280 people in Haiti. Others are reporting even more deaths there. Reuters said its own compilation, based on information from civil protection and local officials, showed that at least 842 had been confirmed dead on Friday. Jacksonville is by far the largest population center in the hurricane’s path, with 868,000 people living in the city and almost 1.6 million in the metropolitan area.

Parts of the city and several neighboring towns lie right on a coastline with no barrier islands, potentially exposed to the full force of the storm. The heart of the city sits about 15 miles inland, protected from the high surf, but much of Jacksonville, which straddles the St. John River estuary, is at sea level or just a few feet higher. A storm surge predicted to reach seven to 11 feet that pushed upriver could inundate portions of the downtown, several neighborhoods, and Naval Station Mayport and Naval Air Station Jacksonville. P

resident Obama, speaking at the White House, said: “Pay attention to what your local officials are telling you. If they tell you to evacuate, you need to get out of there and move to higher ground.” The president has declared a state of emergency in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, allowing federal agencies to coordinate relief efforts. Officials urged residents who have not evacuated to remain in shelters and not be deceived by the bands of rain that come and go. Richard Knabb, director of the National Hurricane Center, said, “Just because the center is off shore doesn’t mean you can’t be the center of the action.”
Florida State officials reported Friday afternoon that nearly 827,000 customers had lost electricity. In four counties — Brevard, Flagler, Indian River and Volusia — more than half of electrical customers lacked power.