Miami, October 5 (RHC)-- In the United States, residents of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas are preparing for evacuations as the "extremely dangerous" Hurricane Matthew is expected to brush up to the U.S. East Coast later this week.

Florida Governor Rick Scott warned residents on Tuesday to prepare for a direct hit from the powerful Category Four storm.  "Regardless if there is a direct hit or not, the impacts will be devastating," Scott said, emphasizing that everyone in the state of Florida must prepare for the worst case scenario.

The projected path of the storm with sustained winds of 130 mph was already causing headaches in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.  It is expected to ride along the U.S. coast from eastern Florida through the North Carolina Outer Banks from Thursday evening through Sunday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has deployed personnel and supplies to those states.  President Barack Obama, who has canceled his plans to campaign for Hillary Clinton on Wednesday in Miami and Tampa, will visit FEMA headquarters instead to get updates on the federal emergency response.

If predictions are accurate, Matthew would be "a disaster for the east coast of Florida from about West Palm Beach north up Interstate 95 to Jacksonville," WeatherBell meteorologist Ryan Maue tweeted Tuesday afternoon.

From Florida, the hurricane is expected to roar toward the Georgia coast north to South Carolina on Friday and Saturday, reaching North Carolina early next Sunday.  Yesterday, Tuesday, South Carolina began preparations to evacuate almost a quarter of its citizens as the hurricane headed toward the state's Atlantic coast.

Governor Nikki Haley said that unless the storm changes course overnight, a complete evacuation will be launched.