See How Hurricane Matthew Hit the U.S.

  • Surf from the Banana River crashes up on a dock at Sunset Grill in Cocoa Beach, Fla., as Hurricane Matthew hits Florida's east coast, Oct. 7, 2016.
    Red Huber—Orlando Sentinel/AP
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  • Heavy waves caused by Hurricane Matthew pound the boat docks at the Sunset Bar and Grill on Cocoa Beach, Fla., Oct. 7, 2016.
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  • People sit on a bus in Savannah, Georgia, to be evacuated to Augusta, some 130 miles (208km) northwest, on Oct. 7, 2016.
    Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images
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  • A police car patrols near Atlantic Beach, Fla., on Oct. 7, 2016.
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  • Trees sway from heavy rain and wind from Hurricane Matthew in front of Exploration Tower in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Oct. 7, 2016.
    Craig Rubadoux—Florida Today/AP
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  • People leave Disney's Magic Kingdom theme park, in heavy rain, after it closed in Orlando, Fla., in preparation for the landfall of Hurricane Matthew, on Oct. 6, 2016.
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  • Barack Obama attends a briefing about Hurricane Matthew, at the FEMA headquarters in Washington, Oct. 5, 2016.
    Al Drago—The New York Times/Redux
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  • People seeking food and shelter wait in line at Booker T. Washington High in Miami, an emergency shelter during Hurricane Matthew, Oct. 6, 2016.
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  • Local residents take shelter at the Pedro Menendez high school in St. Augustine, Fla., on Oct. 6, 2016.
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  • Local residents watch waves at the Atlantic Beach in Jacksonville, Fla., on Oct. 6, 2016.
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By TIME Photo
October 7, 2016 3:22 PM EDT

Hurricane Matthew was downgraded to a Category 3 storm before it brushed past Florida’s Atlantic coast Friday, but it still left a trail of destruction and hundreds of thousands of people without power.

The Associated Press reports that more than 476,000 people lost power in the storm, and more than 1.5 million people were told to evacuate ahead of the storm. Matthew left at least 283 people dead in Haiti when it struck the island nation as a Category 4 storm.

Now, forecasters say Matthew will likely travel up the coast of Georgia and South Carolina before heading out to sea, possibly battering Florida a second time in a loop back as a tropical storm.

President Barack Obama has declared a state of emergency for Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

Contact us at letters@time.com.

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