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Scott Calls Matthew Potentially 'Catastrophic'

Calling Hurricane Matthew’s 115 mile-per-hour punch potentially “catastrophic,” Governor Rick Scott is urging Florida’s east coast residents to prepare for landfall in the next 24 hours.

Scott surrounded himself with uniformed National Guard troops at a morning briefing and said his biggest enemy is complacency. Scott says he’s worried most Floridians haven’t experienced a major storm in a decade.

“If Mathew directly impacts Florida there will be massive destruction that we haven’t seen in years. Again, this is a deadly storm approaching our state. “

Scott said even if the slow-moving storm doesn’t make landfall it could bring tropical storm-force winds and up to 10 inches of rain.

Matthew cut a deadly swath through  Cuba and Haiti with 145 mph winds and is already blamed for 11 deaths.

A Miami native, former WFSU reporter Jim Ash is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years of experience, most of it in print. He has been a member of the Florida Capital Press Corps since 1992.