Hurricane Matthew makes landfall in Haiti, Jamaica spared

Matthew batters Haiti

Hurricane Matthew made landfall in southwestern Haiti early Tuesday, crashing ashore as a powerful Category 4 storm.

According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, the hurricane made landfall as an “extremely dangerous” storm near the village of Les Anglais at around 7 am EDT with maximum sustained winds of around 230 kph (145 mph).
The most menacing storm in nearly a decade, Matthew battered Haiti overnight with strong winds and rising sea levels.

The hurricane has caused extensive flooding in Haiti’s southwest and is moving inland in a northward direction at around 15 kph (9 mph).

More than 6,400 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters in Haiti, although civil protection forces have struggled with locals who refused to leave some of the most vulnerable areas.

Expected to hit Cuba, Bahamas. Jamaica Spared

On the forecast track, the eye of Matthew will move near eastern Cuba later today, and move near or over portions of the southeastern and central Bahamas tonight and Wednesday, and approach the northwestern Bahamas Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, Jamaica’s meteorological service yesterday evening downgraded Matthew’s impact to a tropical storm warning, saying that the country is now expected to be outside the range of hurricane force winds associated with Hurricane Matthew, but likely to experience tropical storm conditions.

The downgrade from a hurricane warning came after Jamaicans spent 5 days preparing for the storm that at one point grew to Category 5 strength as it slow-marched across the central Caribbean.

Source: AFP