Hurricane Matthew: Death toll in Florida rises to 4

A female resident of Putnam County died after a tree fell on her trailer during Hurricane Matthew, according to a statement from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office. 

This brings the death toll in Florida to four.

“Deputies discovered that two adults were attempting to ride out the storm in the trailer when the tree fell due to high winds. The male occupant was able to escape with only minor injuries, but the female was killed. Major Crimes Detectives continue to investigate,” said the statement.

Two people died in St. Lucie County and one person in Volusia County, authorities said.

Erlier, an 82-year-old man and a woman in her 60s had died in Florida, according to the St. Lucie County Fire Department and a spokeswoman at the Volusia County Community Information Center.

The woman was killed by a falling tree as she went out into her yard to feed her animals in Volusia County, spokeswoman Joanne Magley tells CNN.

The man was unconscious and having difficulty breathing when emergency services received the call for help, but they were unable to respond to calls “due to dangerously strong winds,” the St. Lucie County Fire Department said in a Facebook post.

Earlier Friday, a woman died from cardiac arrest, also in St. Lucie County, after emergency responders were unable to respond to her call for help due to Hurricane Matthew.

Hurricane Matthew is now a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds notching 110 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The storm is located 40 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida, or 135 miles south of Savannah, Georgia. Slow weakening is expected to continue, but Matthew is forecast to continue to be a formidable hurricane as it approaches the coast of Georgia and the Carolinas.

Landfall is still a possibility later Friday or Saturday morning in Georgia or the Carolinas, or it may hug the coast just offshore.