17 Terrifying Tweets About Hurricane Matthew

As of early Friday morning, Hurricane Matthew made its way up the Eastern Seaboard, bringing with it heavy rains, winds of up to 150 mph, and dangerously high storm surges. Parts of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina have all been declared to be in a state of emergency, and millions of residents have been ordered to evacuate the area.

For the rest world, imagining what the area is going through is a difficult endeavor, especially if you're lucky enough to never have experienced a hurricane. It's all well and good to read about a weather phenomenon, but you can't really sympathize with the people involved unless you've been through it yourself. As always, though, we can trust the Twitterverse to come through with some hair-raising descriptions of what it's like on the ground.

To start with, we can think about what the residents of these southeastern states have been going through over the past couple of days — watching the storm tear through Haiti, Cuba, and several other islands in the Caribbean; anticipating its landfall in the United States; preparing to evacuate their homes — and hope that everyone has made it to safety. But to try to understand what the area is really going through, these terrifying tweets are definitely the best way to go.

1. The Anxious Flier's Nightmare

I would literally do anything in the world to avoid going into a hurricane hunter plane.

2. The View From The Ground

If you needed any more convincing to leave the area, this is it.

3. Buildings Aren't Safe, Either

This is definitely not an isolated incident.

4. This Is A Very Frightening Comparison

No one wants another Katrina.

5. Just To Put It In Perspective

When it's open for literally everything else, a closure says a lot about the danger the area is in.

6. Put All The Videos Together

All of this taken together paints a pretty scary picture.

7. Rick Scott Goes All Lord Of The Rings

As King Theoden said, "Crops can be re-sown, homes re-built." Lives, Governor Rick Scott reminds us, cannot.

8. This Is What People Are Going Through

Anticipation: the best part of a good thing, the worst part of a bad thing.

9. Trust NASA

When it's this big from space, it must be huge on the ground.

10. Lack Of Control Is Scary

Hopefully, her house is safely boarded up and protected.

11. This Shows You What It's Capable Of

Wind did that. Wind seriously did that.

12. That Color Is Just Eerie

That cloud makes me want to be far, far away.

13. More For Comparison's Sake

At least we know that they'll know what to do — but we hoped they wouldn't have to do it again.

14. This Is Not Something You Want To Experience

They didn't test you on this kind of driving in driver's ed.

15. At Least This Means People Listened

I just can't imagine the feeling of uncertainty after evacuation.

16. The Amount Of Red There Is Frightening

Can it please just go back to green?

17. And Finally, The Sign It's Really Bad

Waffle House never closes — you don't want to be there when it does.

These 17 tweets are a frightening reminder of just how strong Hurricane Matthew has been and the damage it has caused many in these areas.