US keeps watch on Matthew: Deadly hurricane sends Florida residents flocking to buy supplies and South Carolina is ready to evacuate over 1 million people as storm kills 11 people in the Caribbean

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People along the East Coast entered better-safe-than-sorry mode Tuesday, flocking to hardware stores, grocery aisles and gas stations as Hurricane Matthew marched toward Florida, threatening to become the first hurricane to hit the state's Atlantic coast in over a decade.

Matthew, a Category 4 storm packing winds of 145 mph, pummeled parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Tuesday. The eye of Hurricane Matthew has now moved off the northeastern coast of Cuba as the storm headed into the southern Bahamas with its dangerous winds early Wednesday.   

At least 11 people in the Caribbean have died due to the storm. Four people died in the Dominican Republic, five in Haiti, one in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and one in Colombia.

The storm was on track to rake the Southeastern coast and trek north by Thursday. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said she planned to issue an evacuation order Wednesday so that 1 million people can safely leave the coast. 

The National Hurricane Center in Miami issued a hurricane watch for a 230-mile stretch from Deerfield Beach near Fort Lauderdale to the Daytona Beach area, meaning hurricane force winds of 74 mph or higher could occur within two days.

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Deadly: The high winds of Hurricane Matthew roared over Baracoa, Cuba (above) late Tuesday as at least 11 people have already died in the Caribbean due to the storm

A resident runs in a flooded street in Baracoa, Cuba as Hurricane Matthew hits the lightly populated area late Tuesday

The powerful storm unloaded heavy rain in Baracoa, Cuba. It's expected to hit the Bahamas next before hitting the East Coast

Empty shelves: A woman reaches for what appears to be the last gallon sized container of water inside a supermarket in Florida. Residents are preparing for Hurricane Matthew to make landfall in the next few days

Dean Legge (left) helps his sister-law Josey Vereen (right) remove furniture from the lower level of her beachfront home along Waccamaw Drive in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew in Garden City Beach, South Carolina

Legge also helped his sister-law remove a mattress at her beachfront home along Waccamaw Drive in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew in Garden City Beach, South Carolina on Tuesday

A woman fills up a container with gas as her trunk shows several items she purchased on Tuesday in preparation for the storm to hit central Florida

Tybee Island City Hall is boarded up in preparation for Hurricane Matthew on Tuesday. The storm was on track to rake Florida before spinning up the East Coast

Lines at grocery stores in central Florida appeared to be growing longer as people flocked to buy supplies for Hurricane Matthew

Shoppers look for items amid the generators, cases of water and gas cans at Lowe's in Oakland Park, Florida on Tuesday to prepare for Hurricane Matthew

Brothers Danny Delarocca, left and Gino Delarocca, right, both of Boca Raton, load plywood onto their car at the Home Depot in Deerfield Beach, Florida on Tuesday as Hurricane Matthew is expected to hit in the next few days

Danny Delarocca, of Boca Raton, loads plywood onto his brother's car at the Home Depot in Deerfield Beach, Florida on Tuesday as anxious Florida residents raided grocery store shelves in preparation of Hurricane Matthew

A man waits with his generator in the parking lot at Lowe's in Oakland Park, Florida on Tuesday in preparing for Hurricane Matthew

Mike Bresnahan, of Pompano Beach, Florida loads cases of water into his cart at Lowe's in Oakland Park, Florida on Tuesday to prepare for the storm

Hurricane Matthew is a strong and extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane. The storm's eyewall is currently hammering eastern Cuba and western portions of Haiti, as seen on the map above

Schools in Broward County and Palm Beach County have cancelled classes on Thursday and Friday, CBS12 reported. 

In South Florida, lines at grocery stores were heavier than usual and some essentials were in short supply. 

When Simone Corrado and her husband tried to buy water at their Publix in Davie near Fort Lauderdale, they mostly found empty shelves. 

There were a few bottles of high-end water brands, but there was so much empty shelf space that Corrado lay down and fully stretched out on the bottom shelf.

'I got scared because all that was left at Publix was just the pricey water,' said Corrado, who lived through 1992's catastrophic Hurricane Andrew, which practically leveled the nearby city of Homestead. 

'They really put the fear into you here. On the television screen every few minutes is the 'beep, beep, beep' storm alert.'

The hurricane is expected to remain powerful over the next several days as it is estimated to hit the East Coast by Thursday

The likelihood of hurricane force winds are seen above in this graphic. Florida is predicted to be worse hit

Forecasters are warning that flash flooding and mudslides could occur due to the powerful storm through Saturday. The above map shows the predicted rainfall from the powerful hurricane as it moves up the East Coast through Thursday

'Hurricane Matthew's tropical storm-force wind field (at least 39 mph sustained winds) extends up to 175 miles from the center, and hurricane-force winds extend up to 45 miles from the center,' The Weather Channel reported

The above image from the NASA Terra satellite on Tuesday shows Hurricane Matthew over Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It is the most powerful hurricane to hit the Caribbean in almost a quarter of a century

US Service members attached to Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay take shelter inside Denich Gym before Hurricane Matthew hits US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay and the island of Cuba on Tuesday

Gov. Rick Scott, speaking in the Daytona area, warned residents they must be prepared to take a direct hit and evacuation orders could be issued as early as Tuesday. 

Scott said his biggest worry is that residents won't take seriously the threat from Matthew, especially since so many newer residents have never lived through a hurricane.

'Don't take a chance. Leave before it's too late,' he said. 'We have to be prepared to be hit by a catastrophic hurricane.' 

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is declaring a state of emergency in 13 coastal counties because of Hurricane Matthew. 

Shelves were nearly empty of bottled water at a central Florida grocery store on Tuesday as residents are preparing for the huge storm to hit in the next few days

Batteries were nearly all gone from a South Florida store as people prepare for Hurricane Matthew to make landfall in the coming days

A man is pictured closing his trunk for a gas cans as he prepares for the hurricane to make landfall in the next few days in Florida

Texroy Spence loads plywood onto his car at the Home Depot in Deerfield Beach, Florida on Tuesday to prepare for the powerful Atlantic storm that is threatening to hit the East Coast in the next few days

Anita Baranyi keeps an eye on the generator she is purchasing while feeding her 6-month-old baby, Rufus Nagygyorgy at Lowe's in Oakland Park, Florida on Tuesday. The mother is preparing for Hurricane Matthew to make landfall soon

Jim LaFeir, of Ft. Lauderdale, buys a gas can at Lowe's in Oakland Park, Florida on Tuesday to prepare for the storm

Motorists line up at a gas station in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina on Tuesday to fill their gas tanks in advance of Hurricane Matthew which is expected to affect the South Carolina coast by the weekend

Gov. Nikki Haley announced Tuesday that, unless the track of the storm changes, the state will issue an evacuation order Wednesday to help get 1 million people inland from the coast

Deal's office issued a statement Tuesday saying he is ordering the state emergency management and homeland security offices to work with local agencies to protect residents and minimize risks.

The state of emergency begins Wednesday and includes the port city of Savannah and Brunswick to the south.

The White House said President Barack Obama canceled a campaign and health care events in Florida on Wednesday and would instead visit the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for an update. 

While the storm's exact track isn't yet known, Deal says the storm could get dangerously close to the state's coast within 72 hours. 

Staff and customers look over flashlights at Lowe's in Oakland Park, Florida on Tuesday as they prepare for what's expected to be the most powerful storm to hit the Atlantic in a decade

A structure lays on the ground, brought down by the winds of Hurricane Matthew in Leogane, Haiti on Tuesday

A sewage worker clears a sewer in a street flooded by the rains of Hurricane Matthew, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Tuesday. Hurricane Matthew roared into the southwestern coast of the island of Hispaniola with devastating storm conditions as it headed north toward Cuba and the eastern coast of Florida

Two boys float in an old wooden box in an area flooded by heavy rains caused by Hurricane Matthew, in La Puya slum, in the Arroyo Hondo creek in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Tuesday after the devastating storm hit

Hurricane Hermine became the first to strike Florida since Wilma in 2005 when it hit the eastern Panhandle on September 2 as a Category 1 storm, causing one death, storm surge damage to beachfront homes and downed trees and powerlines. 

That 11-year lull between storms hitting Florida was the longest on record.

The last storm to hit the Atlantic side of Florida was Hurricane Katrina, which struck in 2005 on its way to devastating the Gulf coast.

Wilma made landfall as a Category 3 storm with 120 mph winds, killing five people as it pushed from southwest Florida, through the Everglades and into the Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach area, causing an estimated $21 billion in damage and leaving thousands of residents without power for more than a week. 

It concluded a two-year span when a record eight hurricanes hit the state. 

Residents evacuate their homes in Fonds Parisiens, western Haiti on Tuesday as Hurricane Matthew made landfall causing mudslides and flooding 

Emergency personnel work to tackle the floods in Fonds Parisiens, western Haiti, on Tuesday as the powerful storm has killed at least nine people 

People cross a bridge over a rushing river as part of evacuations during Hurricane Matthew in Port au Prince, Haiti on Tuesday

Near Miami Beach, The Home Depot in Davie briefly ran out of propane for gas barbecues and the supply of batteries was dwindling. 

People bought plywood to cover windows, tarps to put over outdoor furniture and coolers for food storage.

Anesthesiologist Darby Lipka lugged a 20-pound propane tank across the parking lot, saying he had already purchased food and water. He installed hurricane windows years ago so he wouldn't need to erect shutters

'I am just trying to be prepared,' he said.

Dane Vaala, a diesel mechanic, was loading plywood onto his pickup. He needed it so he could stand on his awning to install upper floor shutters at his home. 

A man pushes a bicycle in a flood zone after Hurricane Matthew passed through Les Cayes, Haiti on Tuesday

A man pushes a wheelbarrow as he wades across a flooded street while Hurricane Matthew passes through Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday

People wade across a flooded street while Hurricane Matthew passes through Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday

He moved to Florida from Montana in 2007, so Matthew would be his first storm. He had loaded up on canned food and water.

'I'm not too concerned — it doesn't really bother me much,' he said. 'But it is better to prep.'

Haley said state officials would reverse lanes on major evacuation routes in South Carolina. 

It would be the first major evacuation since Hurricane Floyd in 1999, when the governor at the time didn't reverse the lanes and Interstate 26 became a parking lot. 

A typically two-hour drive from Charleston to Columbia turned into 24-hour nightmare.

'We've been though winter storms. We've been through a 1,000-year flood. A hurricane is different. I don't want anyone to look at the last couple of tragedies we've gone through and think this is similar,' Haley said. 

Some airlines are letting passengers change travel plans without penalty if their trip might be affected by Hurricane Matthew.

A man wades through floodwaters in Fonds Parisiens, western Haiti on Tuesday after the powerful hurricane made landfall

A woman walks through flood waters as children stand nearby after the deadly category 4 storm passed through the island of the Dominican Republic

A Haitian boy walks along a flooded street in Fonds Parisiens, western Haiti on Tuesday after the storm made landfall

United Airlines said Tuesday that it will waive change fees and any difference in fare for customers scheduled to fly Wednesday through Friday to, from or through five airports in Florida.

Delta Air Lines is waiving change fees on trips through Wednesday in the Caribbean and through Thursday at eight Florida destinations, although differences in the fare would still apply. 

Strong winds and heavy rain hit Haiti on Thursday, as a United Nations official said Hurricane Matthew has caused the biggest humanitarian crisis in Haiti since the devastating earthquake of 2010. 

Deputy Special Representative for Haiti Mourad Wahba says in a statement that many people have been forced from their homes and communications systems have been knocked out in the country's hard-hit southwestern peninsula. He said at least 10,000 people are in shelters.

Wahba says officials have received reports of destroyed houses and overflowing hospitals, with shortages fresh water. He also says the hospital in the city of Les Cayes had its roof blown off.

Locals stand on a street during heavy rains in Baracoa, Cuba on Tuesday as Hurricane Matthew made landfall in western Haiti 

Waves crashing against the Baracoa shore in Cuba on Tuesday as the powerful category 4 storm has already caused flooding and mudslides in the Dominican Republic  and Haiti

But with a key bridge washed out, roads impassable and phone communications down, the western tip of Haiti was isolated and there was no word on dead and injured.

Hours after Matthew swept onto the remote area with 145 mph winds, government leaders said they weren't close to fully gauging the impact in the vulnerable, flood-prone country where less powerful storms have killed thousands.

International aid efforts were stymied Tuesday because of the lack of access to the hardest-hit areas, many residents of flooded areas seen by Associated Press reporters were wading through shin-high waters.

Muddy rivers and tributaries continued to rise as water flowed down hillsides and mountains, making more flash floods and mudslides possible even Matthew tracked away from the country.

A woman and a child walk in a waterlogged street as they head to a shelter under the pouring rain caused by Hurricane Matthew, in Leogane, Haiti on Tuesday

People inspect the rising water level of a river due to the rains caused by Hurricane Matthew passing through Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday

Matthew was at one point a Category 5 storm, making it the most powerful hurricane in the region in nearly a decade. It blew ashore around dawn in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and a place where many people live in shacks of wood or concrete blocks.

Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie voiced concern about the potential impact on the sprawling archipelago off Florida's east coast.

'We're worried because we do not control nature,' he said. 

Seven hundred military family members were evacuated from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba over the weekend in anticipation of the storm. The Department of State has authorized family members of US government employees to depart the Bahamas, and has issued a travel warning for the area.