Hurricane Matthew roars into Haiti packing winds of 145mph

Many Haitians fled their homes as Category 4 Hurricane Matthew hit the island’s coastline with winds of up to 145mph. The hurricane reached the southwest coast of the island around 7am local time, pounding a largely rural corner of the impoverished country with devastating storm conditions. Rising sea levels had already caused extensive flooding as the storm - predicted to be the most dangerous in the region in more than a decade - headed north towards Cuba.

We are looking at a dangerous hurricane that is heading into the vicinity of western Haiti and eastern Cuba. People who are impacted by things like flooding and mudslides hopefully would get out and relocate because that’s where we have seen loss of life in the past.

US National Hurricane Centre’s Richard Pasch

Schools and two airports have been closed until Wednesday with more than 500 people evacuated from the city of Jeremie ahead of the tropical typhoon. The hemisphere’s poorest country was already badly affected by a hurricane which hit earlier in the season. Officials earlier urged shantytown residents to move to shelters; some went but many others have refused, fearing their already limited possessions may be stolen. Forecasters have predicted the storm could drop as much as 40 inches of rain on some isolated areas of Haiti, raising fears of deadly mudslides and floods in the heavily deforested country where flooding is common. The hurricane has already caused the death of one Haitian, a fisherman in St Jean Du Sud in the south.

World