Families with Nova Scotia ties in Florida prepare for Hurricane Matthew

Two families with ties to Nova Scotia who live in Melbourne, Fla., are hunkering down as a powerful hurricane gets ready to hitthe state.

Hurricane Matthew strengthened as it approached Florida's heavily populated Atlantic coast, pelting the region with high winds and heavy rain.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Matthew had regained its earlier status as a Category 4 hurricane, packing sustained winds of 225 km/h. Its centre was about 250 kilometres southeast of Miami, headed for the coast at 19 km/h.

"We have a little bit of rain, a little bit of wind, nothing too bad yet, but I guess they'resaying it's going to hit really bad tonight or early in the morning," said Susan Umlah.

She lives in Melbourne, which is on the Atlantic coast, with her son and father. Her dad, John Umlah, is originally from Halifax.

Umlah said an evacuation order is in place, but they're staying behind.

"We just feel comfortable in my father's house. It's a brick house, concrete slabs. We don't think we'll get much damage to the house," she said.

'Who knows what tonight's going to hold?'

Umlah said some of the preparations they'vetaken include boarding up the house,filling up the bathtubs with water, getting bottled water,food and candles.They also have generators in case the power goes out.

"Who knows what tonight's going to hold?" she said.

Charlene Miller also lives in Melbourne. She attended high school in Bedford, N.S., and later settled in Florida. She says the storm coverage for Matthew is different than previous hurricanes.

"Being on the coast we get a lot of warnings, but you can definitely tell this is not a maybe storm," she wrote in a private Facebook message.

Miller, her husband and two children live beside a fire department, so she's confident if the power goes out, it'll be a priority to restore.

Matthew is the most powerful hurricane to threaten the Atlantic coast in more than a decade.

According to Reuters,the stormkilled at least 140people, mostly in Haitias it cut through the Caribbean earlier this week.