Florida residents were warned that the 'worst effects are still likely to come' as Hurricane Matthew continued to pummel the state with 100mph winds, menacing more than 26 million Americans. At 9am EDT, Matthew's eyewall brushed the coast of North-Central Florida, just off the coast of Daytona Beach, after working its way up past Melbourne and Cape Canaveral. The eye of the storm was still several miles offshore and moving north north-west at 13mph. While there are signs that a direct hit with land will be avoided, officials are particularly concerned about low-lying areas in Jacksonville, which could be hit by heavy flooding. Gov Rick Scott, speaking at a morning press conference after a day or urging people to evacuate, said some 600,000 people in the state have been left without power, while more than 22,000 people were in shelters. He also said all interstates in Florida would remain open without tolls. 'The storm is only halfway through our state, so we are not through this yet,' he warned. 'We are very concerned about storm surge and the worst effects are still likely to come.' The storm has claimed hundreds of victims in the Caribbean, while in the US at least one person died. A woman aged in her late 50s died overnight after she suffered a heart attack not longer after the St Lucie Fire Department stopped responding to emergency calls due to wind gusts.
