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What The Largest Evacuation In Florida’s History Looks Like

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Maddie Stone
What The Largest Evacuation In Florida’s History Looks Like

More than two million people in coastal Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina are being told to flee their homes in advance of Hurricane Matthew, the Category 4 monster now bearing down on the United States after wreaking havoc across the Caribbean. It’s easily the largest mass evacuation on US soil since Hurricane Sandy, and it’s likely to be Florida’s biggest evacuation ever.

Image: Getty

As orders to evacuate or die came down over the past 24 hours, coastal residents filled up their tanks and took to the highways by the hundreds of thousands, aided by thousands of National Guard troops. Property owners scrambled to fortify their shops and homes using anything and everything they had, from aluminium storm shutters to 20kg sandbags. Hundreds of flights were cancelled; grocery aisles were picked clean.

If you ever wondered what America might look like on the eve of the apocalypse, look no further than the nightmare hurricane that could render communities “uninhabitable for weeks or months“.

What The Largest Evacuation In Florida’s History Looks Like
A Walmart in Kissimmee, Florida. Image: AP

A Walmart in Kissimmee, Florida. Image: AP

What The Largest Evacuation In Florida’s History Looks Like
Workers put up shutters at a strip mall in Miami. Image: AP

Workers put up shutters at a strip mall in Miami. Image: AP

What The Largest Evacuation In Florida’s History Looks Like
A truck fills up the empty tanks at a gasoline station in Hollywood, Florida. Image: AP

A truck fills up the empty tanks at a gasoline station in Hollywood, Florida. Image: AP

What The Largest Evacuation In Florida’s History Looks Like
Shipowners place sandbags in front of their Daytona Beach store to protect against flooding. Image: AP

Shipowners place sandbags in front of their Daytona Beach store to protect against flooding. Image: AP

What The Largest Evacuation In Florida’s History Looks Like
Workers put up Hurricane Shutters on a condo in Boynton Beach, Florida. Image: Getty

Workers put up Hurricane Shutters on a condo in Boynton Beach, Florida. Image: Getty

What The Largest Evacuation In Florida’s History Looks Like
Two men place plywood over a window in Miami Beach. Image: Getty

Two men place plywood over a window in Miami Beach. Image: Getty

What The Largest Evacuation In Florida’s History Looks Like
Ticketing machines covered in plastic at of Palm Beach International Airport, where hundreds of flights were grounded today. Image: AP

Ticketing machines covered in plastic at of Palm Beach International Airport, where hundreds of flights were grounded today. Image: AP

What The Largest Evacuation In Florida’s History Looks Like
Cancelled flights at Palm Beach International Airport. Image: AP

Cancelled flights at Palm Beach International Airport. Image: AP

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