State and local leaders met in Jacksonville Wednesday night for another storm briefing, informing everyone on what to expect with Hurricane Matthew.
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There are mandatory evacuations for the beaches in Jacksonville.
Residents who live at the beaches and in zone A, B and C need to evacuate, said Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry Thursday morning as he talked about Hurricane Matthew barreling toward Northeast Florida.
Wednesday, Gov. Rick Scott issued an evacuation for Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach and Atlantic Beach, asking people to get a head start.
“Having a plan in place could mean, the difference of life and death, when it comes to a storm of this magnitude,” said Scott.
“Catastrophic conditions are likely to hit Jacksonville. The storm surge at the beach can be 6-8 feet. Anything over 3 feet is life threatening,” said Curry.
Curry said the beaches and evacuation Zones A, B and C are more than likely will get the worst impact from this storm. That’s why it’s important for people in those areas to take precautions.
"I'm adding zone C to the evacuation, it's a serious storm," Curry said.
Evacuation zones, routes and other emergency information
“I want to stress this, your city is ready, your public officials are ready, your independent agencies are ready, we need you as citizens to be ready,” said Curry.
Sheriff Mike Williams says JSO is watching Jacksonville traffic routes and roads, just in case more evacuations are needed, as the storm gets closer to our area.
“We monitored that through rush hour as well. We had a rush hour today, like we do every day, with some rain involved so it created, some typical challenges for us,” said Williams.
To look up your evacuation zone, click here.
Emergency links, evacuation zone information for Hurricane Matthew