ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. -- Treasure Coast residents have been preparing their homes as soon as possible for the threat of Hurricane Matthew.
Tuesday night, St. Lucie County resident Brett Corbett was among those who ended a long work day only to continue working on their homes into the night.
“The most you can get done the better and the quicker the better,” Corbett said.
He lives in Indian River County Estates, an area prone to flooding and potentially at high risk for flooding in a hurricane.
He boarded up his windows Tuesday and repaired his generator.
“Right now, I just boarded up the windows and Im starting on the generator. I’ve filled up the truck. I got gasoline and a little bit of water that I could find,” Corbett said.
He knows the power of a hurricane first-hand, living in Florida for Hurricanes like Andrew and Francis.
“I’ve been through it before and we got it pretty good here,” Corbett said.
Businesses and other homes around the Treasure Coast were boarded up.
Sandbags have been placed around some doorways at the Indian River State College campus.
Another sight to see Tuesday was a line of dozens of boats racing to get through the St. Lucie Locks in Martin County.
Boaters were looking to move their boats further inland before the threat of rough waters later in the week.
Some boaters said they waited as long as three hours to get through the locks.
The locks stayed open until 10 p.m. Tuesday. They will reopen Wednesday at 6 a.m. and stay open until boating conditions become too dangerous.