‘Extremely Dangerous,’ Moves North Near Florida Coast....Hurricane Matthew,

Hurricane Matthew churned along the central coast of Florida on Friday but avoided making a direct hit. The hurricane had weakened slightly overnight but was still a powerful Category 3 storm with winds of about 120 miles per hour. The storm was blamed for the deaths of more than 280 people in Haiti.

At 10 a.m., the western edge of the hurricane’s center was about 30 miles east-southeast of Daytona Beach, Fla., and the storm was moving north-northwest at about 14m.p.h. Gusts of more than 100 m.p.h. were reported near Cape Canaveral as the eye wall approached that area.

The area facing the brunt of the storm has gradually shifted north, with Jacksonville already feeling heavy rains and winds. A storm surge — as much as seven to 11 feet in some spots — is causing concern on the coast, including in downtown Jacksonville along the St. Johns River.

More than 500,000 in Florida are without power, Gov. Rick Scott said at a news conference Friday morning.

 Officials urged residents who have not evacuated to remain in shelters and not to be deceived by the bands of rain that come and go. “The worst is yet to come,” the mayor of Daytona Beach, Derrick Henry, said on CNN Friday morning, urging residents to “exercise prudence.” Richard Knabb, director of the National Hurricane Center, said, “Just because the center is off shore doesn’t mean you can’t be the center of the action.”