Hurricane Matthew 2016 updates: Obama says storm surge is biggest concern

Impact

Speaking from the White House on Friday morning alongside Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate, President Barack Obama urged citizens living in the path of deadly Hurricane Matthew to follow the advice of elected officials, and warned that the biggest potential threat was rising sea levels caused by the storm.

"I think the bigger concern at this point is not just hurricane force winds, but storm surge," Obama said. "Many of you will remember Hurricane Sandy, where initially people thought this doesn't look as bad as we thought, and then suddenly you get massive storm surge and a lot of people were severely affected."

Obama also continued to reiterate the severity of the storm.

"I just want to emphasize to everybody that this is still a really dangerous hurricane, that the potential for storm surge, flooding, loss of life and severe property damage continues to exist, and people continue to need to follow the instructions of their local officials over the course of the next 24, 48, 72 hours," he said.