Many will lack a convenient high-and-dry retreat—especially because Matthew is likely to beat down on regions that have never dealt with a storm of this magnitude. Some will be able to seek shelter in homes and apartments that are not standard disaster relief. Airbnb is offering over 3,000 accommodations in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina to Hurricane Matthew evacuees, and they're absolutely free.

This is all part of the company's disaster response program, which it activated for Hurricane Matthew on Thursday. Participating hosts—people whose homes are out of the storm's reach—will open their doors for free until their state's predicted all-clear date: that's projected to be October 11 for South Carolina, and the 12th and 13th for Florida and Georgia, respectively. It's a pretty lovely gesture: There is no financial incentive for the hosts, other than Airbnb waiving small service fees. "Our hosts do this because they want to help those in need," Airbnb spokesperson Nick Shapiro told WIRED.