Nicole could make Hurricane Matthew even more deadly

A second hurricane named Nicole has reached Category 2 status with sustained windspeeds of 100 mph just east of Hurricane Matthew as of Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. Outer bands of the two storms were already touching as of Friday morning, however the National Hurricane Center had put the two storms on an even closer path by early next week when the two storms could either merge or bounce off one another in the Atlantic, sending either hurling back toward the East Coast. less A second hurricane named Nicole has reached Category 2 status with sustained windspeeds of 100 mph just east of Hurricane Matthew as of Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. Outer bands of the two storms were already touching ... more Photo: NOAA National Hurricane Center Photo: NOAA National Hurricane Center Image 1 of / 87 Caption Close Nicole could make Hurricane Matthew even more deadly 1 / 87 Back to Gallery

With at least 300 dead already in Haiti and millions of residents evacuated along America's Atlantic Coast, there's no doubt that Hurricane Matthew will be one of the most devastating hurricanes in recent memory.

However, what could make Hurricane Matthew even more deadly and unpredictable is a second major storm - Hurricane Nicole - building momentum in the Atlantic.

Just as Matthew prepared to make landfall on Florida's eastern coast Friday, the National Hurricane Center upgraded Nicole's status to a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph.

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Nicole was far off the coast of the Atlantic, tracking north on a trajectory that had the storm slipping uneventfully between the U.S. to the west and the Bahamas to the east.

At least "uneventfully" were there not mega-storm Matthew nearby.

NOAA projections as of Friday morning placed the two storms coming dangerously close to one another by early next week once Matthew finally departed the East Coast.

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Were Hurricanes Matthew and Nicole to collide, the results could only be guessed: whichever of the two storms were larger at that point could absorb the other, or if similar size, the two storms could "dance" off one another, the Palm Beach Post reports, sending the storms in an unusual directions – including back toward the United States.

That result is purely speculative.

For now, the East Coast has enough to worry about with Hurricane Matthew alone.

See the damage Hurricane Matthew has already caused in Florida, Haiti and elsewhere in the photos above.