A Fox News host issued terrifying proclamations about Hurricane Matthew: 'You and everyone you know are dead'
Fox News anchor Shep Smith issued some terrifying proclamations urging people to evacuate before Hurricane Matthew makes landfall in Florida on Friday.
SEE ALSO: Obama declares state of emergency as Hurricane Matthew predictions grow even scarier
"This moves 20 miles to the west, and you and everyone you know are dead — all of you — because you can't survive it. It's not possible unless you're very, very lucky," he said on his show Thursday afternoon. "And your kids die, too."
Smith also spoke to a Floridian woman who didn't want to leave her home. "I'll ask her why she's staying, and if she expects us to cover her funeral," he said before the segment.
RELATED: See how one state is preparing for the storm
While these statements are chilling hyperbole, meteorologists are predicting Matthew could be one of the biggest hurricanes to hit Florida in decades.
President Barack Obama has declared a state of emergency in Florida and South Carolina so that federal and state aid can reach areas it needs to. Gov. Rick Scott of Florida ordered everyone on the state's East Coast to evacuate — roughly 1.5 million people. The governors of Georgia and South Carolina have issued similar warnings and are readying aid at the local level.
Matthew is expected to be a Category 4 or 5 storm (the highest there is) once it reaches Florida Friday morning. Maximum wind speeds Thursday night were 130 miles per hour as the hurricane barreled through the Bahamas.
The storm struck Haiti on Tuesday, and the death toll had risen over 280 by Thursday. Aid workers there are still recovering bodies, and the official count is likely to rise.
Earlier on Thursday, hurricane specialist Bryan Norcross said Matthew was "like no storm in the record books."
"We are concerned about reports of people deciding to stay in areas under mandatory evacuation orders. This is a mistake," he said on the Weather Channel. "This is not hype. This is not hyperbole, and I am not kidding. I cannot overstate the danger of this storm."
Watch Shep Smith's ominous warning below:
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