Florida, Georgia and South Carolina prepare for Hurricane Matthew

The clock is ticking for people along the Southeastern coast as Hurricane Matthew is expected to hit Florida Thursday.

Evacuation orders are in place in several states and the National Guard is mobilizing in Florida, where it hasn’t been hit in more than 10 years. Georgia’s coast hasn’t been hit directly in more than a century.

Thousands of people are heading inland and the rush is on in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

“You get a little nervous with any type of big storm system coming through like that,” said Kenny Carden.

Carden is on the move from Savannah, Georgia heading to Atlanta where he’s staying with family.

He says interstate traffic across the state is a nightmare in anticipation of the storm, but claims it’s worth it to get ahead of the nasty weather.

“I had the tree company come out today and clear out some of the big oak branches above the house and just made sure everything was secured and locked town,” said Carden.

Libby Cole lives a little further up the coast in Charleston, South Carolina.

“Getting out of there and keeping our family safe was the most important thing,” said Cole.

Like Carden, Cole's office is closed the rest of the week because of the storm, so her family headed into the mountains early Wednesday morning with memories of the extremely destructive Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

“They’re taking it a lot more seriously because of Hugo, and they definitely have a better plan this time around. Our governor really has been on top of it and they turned all the lanes outgoing on the interstate,” said Cole.

Florida is possibly seeing the biggest evacuation in its history.

So far 11 people have died in the Caribbean because of Matthew.