Haitian&nbsp;opposition&nbsp;politicians on Tuesday condemned the&nbsp;country's&nbsp;slide&nbsp;into&nbsp;rule&nbsp;by&nbsp;decree&nbsp;under President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/thousands-protest-against-haitis-president-moise-257138">Jovenel Moise</a> after the failure to renew parliament, creating a political vacuum.

In the early hours of Monday, the president said the mandates of lower house deputies and most senators formally expired because no successors were elected in October after the troubled country failed to hold elections.

Moise argues the situation could break the Caribbean nation's political deadlock after weeks of turmoil, but his critics fear it will undermine a fragile democracy three decades since the end of the Duvalier family dictatorship.

Andre Michel, a politician with the&nbsp;opposition&nbsp;Democratic and Popular Sector, said the country was entering a crisis that would be worse than in 2019 when the impoverished country was racked by violent protests against the government.

"Today we see that Jovenel Moise is devoid of any popular legitimacy," Michel told a news conference.

Moise blamed parliament for having failed to approve the electoral law required to hold last year's elections while his opponents accused him of trying to take advantage of the law.

Haiti&nbsp;has had 15 presidents in the past 33 years.

Jean Tholbert Alexis, a former speaker of the Lower House of Congress, said parliament had been undermined.

"It's not good for the&nbsp;rule&nbsp;of law in a country to have all power in the hands of a single office," he said on Twitter.

Under Moise's predecessor, Michel Martelly, parliament was dissolved in January 2015 when negotiations for a deal that would have extended lawmakers' mandates failed.

Martelly&nbsp;ruled by&nbsp;decree&nbsp;until the end of his term.

Haiti&nbsp;is the poorest country in the Americas and is still reeling from several natural disasters, including <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/hurricane-matthew-kills-more-than-500-in-haiti-350000-people-in-need-of-relief-7182">Hurricane Matthew</a> in 2016 and a devastating earthquake in 2010.

Haitian opposition politicians on Tuesday condemned the country's slide into rule by decree under President Jovenel Moise after the failure to renew parliament, creating a political vacuum.

Haitian opposition politicians on Tuesday condemned the country's slide into rule by decree under President Jovenel Moise after the failure to renew parliament, creating a political vacuum. In the early hours of Monday, the president said the mandates of lower house deputies and most senators formally expired because no successors were elected in October after the troubled country failed to hold elections. Moise argues the situation could break the Caribbean nation's political deadlock after weeks of turmoil, but his critics fear it will undermine a fragile democracy three decades since the end of the Duvalier family dictatorship. Andre Michel, a politician with the opposition Democratic and Popular Sector, said the country was entering a crisis that would be worse than in 2019 when the impoverished country was racked by violent protests against the government. "Today we see that Jovenel Moise is devoid of any popular legitimacy," Michel told a news conference. Moise blamed parliament for having failed to approve the electoral law required to hold last year's elections while his opponents accused him of trying to take advantage of the law. Haiti has had 15 presidents in the past 33 years. Jean Tholbert Alexis, a former speaker of the Lower House of Congress, said parliament had been undermined. "It's not good for the rule of law in a country to have all power in the hands of a single office," he said on Twitter. Under Moise's predecessor, Michel Martelly, parliament was dissolved in January 2015 when negotiations for a deal that would have extended lawmakers' mandates failed. Martelly ruled by decree until the end of his term. Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas and is still reeling from several natural disasters, including Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and a devastating earthquake in 2010.

Haiti opposition condemns country's slide into rule by decree

Haiti launched its ill-fated presidential campaign for the fifth time in a year on Thursday, but people in the hurricane-destroyed southwestern town of Jeremie have more pressing concerns, such as staying alive and finding a home.

&nbsp;

&quot;We don&rsquo;t have anywhere to live, cholera is killing people,&rdquo; said Joselyne Saint Preux, who, along with dozens of others, has stayed in a school being used as a shelter since Hurricane Matthew flattened much of the port town a month ago.

&nbsp;

&quot;We&rsquo;d like the elections to take place, but we need the government to make decisions about us,&rdquo; said 29-year-old Saint Preux, who&#39;d made a living as a street vendor before the disaster struck.

&nbsp;

Matthew killed up to 1,000 people and 1.4 million remain in need of humanitarian aid, while tens of thousands are packed into schools and other buildings used as polling centers, raising questions about the viability of the vote set for November&nbsp;20.

&nbsp;

The storm has triggered one disaster after another.

&nbsp;

The area&#39;s fertile farms lost their crops, raising fears of famine. Water and sanitation systems were destroyed, leading to a flare-up of cholera that had been all but conquered in the region.

&nbsp;

Flooding has compounded the damage and caused even more deaths.

&nbsp;

And social tensions have boiled up over the slow distribution of aid.

&nbsp;

Add a history of political instability and previous accusations of fraud by losing candidates and it is easy to see why many fear the new vote will not been seen as legitimate if it is held now.

&nbsp;

The hurricane hit days before presidential, parliamentary and some local elections were due to take place on October&nbsp;9, a partial re-run of a vote originally held a year earlier that was denounced by political leaders for fraud.

&nbsp;

Critics say it will be impossible to do everything needed to hold an election in a little over two weeks time, but interim President Jocelerme Privert is under opposition pressure to hold the vote quickly to dispel suspicions that he might be trying to hang onto office illegitimately.

&nbsp;

His government also wants to restart classes by evacuating some 140,000 people out of schools being used as shelters.

&nbsp;

UN officials said evacuations would likely take longer than the government or residents would like, as a plan on how to move people is still being finalised.

&nbsp;

&ldquo;Obviously these people have suffered a lot by being in the hurricane and we don&rsquo;t want them to suffer more by being pushed out,&rdquo; said John Ging, a director at the UN&nbsp;Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

&nbsp;

While Haiti&rsquo;s capital of Port-au-Prince is plastered with sun-bleached posters of various candidates, the town of Jeremie in the hard-hit Grand Anse department of Haiti was virtually empty of political messaging on the first day of the campaign.

&nbsp;

Sitting in front of her home, where portions of the roof were missing and some of the walls no longer there, Amelia Michel, 81, said her usual polling center had been damaged in the storm.

&nbsp;

The president&rsquo;s office says it will repair 240 such centers, and others could be rebuilt. Michel said she had seen government workers visit her polling center but no work seemed to have been done yet.

&nbsp;

Michel said she was sleeping at a shelter set up at a nearby school and still had trouble finding access to food and water.

&nbsp;

The elections were the last thing on her mind.

&nbsp;

&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t think anything of them,&quot; she said. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have anything to eat,&rdquo; she said as about a hundred people stood in a line snaking around a central square, waiting for food distribution from a World Food Program truck.

&nbsp;

(Reuters)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Haiti launched its presidential campaign for the fifth time this year but survivors are concerned about staying alive and finding a home

Haiti launched its ill-fated presidential campaign for the fifth time in a year on Thursday, but people in the hurricane-destroyed southwestern town of Jeremie have more pressing concerns, such as staying alive and finding a home. "We don’t have anywhere to live, cholera is killing people,” said Joselyne Saint Preux, who, along with dozens of others, has stayed in a school being used as a shelter since Hurricane Matthew flattened much of the port town a month ago. "We’d like the elections to take place, but we need the government to make decisions about us,” said 29-year-old Saint Preux, who'd made a living as a street vendor before the disaster struck. Matthew killed up to 1,000 people and 1.4 million remain in need of humanitarian aid, while tens of thousands are packed into schools and other buildings used as polling centers, raising questions about the viability of the vote set for November 20. The storm has triggered one disaster after another. The area's fertile farms lost their crops, raising fears of famine. Water and sanitation systems were destroyed, leading to a flare-up of cholera that had been all but conquered in the region. Flooding has compounded the damage and caused even more deaths. And social tensions have boiled up over the slow distribution of aid. Add a history of political instability and previous accusations of fraud by losing candidates and it is easy to see why many fear the new vote will not been seen as legitimate if it is held now. The hurricane hit days before presidential, parliamentary and some local elections were due to take place on October 9, a partial re-run of a vote originally held a year earlier that was denounced by political leaders for fraud. Critics say it will be impossible to do everything needed to hold an election in a little over two weeks time, but interim President Jocelerme Privert is under opposition pressure to hold the vote quickly to dispel suspicions that he might be trying to hang onto office illegitimately. His government also wants to restart classes by evacuating some 140,000 people out of schools being used as shelters. UN officials said evacuations would likely take longer than the government or residents would like, as a plan on how to move people is still being finalised. “Obviously these people have suffered a lot by being in the hurricane and we don’t want them to suffer more by being pushed out,” said John Ging, a director at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. While Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince is plastered with sun-bleached posters of various candidates, the town of Jeremie in the hard-hit Grand Anse department of Haiti was virtually empty of political messaging on the first day of the campaign. Sitting in front of her home, where portions of the roof were missing and some of the walls no longer there, Amelia Michel, 81, said her usual polling center had been damaged in the storm. The president’s office says it will repair 240 such centers, and others could be rebuilt. Michel said she had seen government workers visit her polling center but no work seemed to have been done yet. Michel said she was sleeping at a shelter set up at a nearby school and still had trouble finding access to food and water. The elections were the last thing on her mind. “We don’t think anything of them," she said. “We don’t have anything to eat,” she said as about a hundred people stood in a line snaking around a central square, waiting for food distribution from a World Food Program truck. (Reuters)

Hurricane survivors struggle to survive as Haiti launches 'ill-fated' presidential campaign

Three weeks after the powerful Hurricane Matthew devastated southwestern Haiti, thousands of those displaced by the storm are living in &quot;inhumane&quot; conditions in government-run shelters, a United Nations expert said on Tuesday.&nbsp;

After a nine-day tour of Haiti, an independent UN human rights observer Gustavo Gallon described the difficult conditions the people were living in.&nbsp;

&quot;There is no food, no access to health services, no drinking water, and no clean installations and proper toilets,&quot; Gallon said shocked at the terrible state of the shelters.

&quot;These people are squeezed into 20 classrooms. They are hungry. There are two babies that were born there without help for delivery, and there are around 20 pregnant women there,&quot; he spoke about the Nord Alexis school, which is housing some 3,000 storm refugees, or 525 families, in the town of Jeremie.

Warning of the psychological effects of the trauma, Gallon recalled how a young woman told him &quot;we all became mentally ill.&quot;

&quot;The conditions in which these people find themselves in are inhumane and should be resolved immediately,&quot; he added.

The hurricane destroyed or heavily damaged more than 770 schools, and the schools that were unaffected have been taken over by thousands of displaced families.&nbsp;

Given the great stress suffered by storm refugees, many of whom lost everything, Gallon was perplexed by Haitian authorities&#39; orders to prepare to resume classes.

At least 546 people were killed, and more than 175,000 people were displaced in the storm that hit Haiti on October 4.

(WION with inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

Thousands of displaced are living in 'difficult and inhumane conditions' with no food or health services at the shelters, the observer told

Three weeks after the powerful Hurricane Matthew devastated southwestern Haiti, thousands of those displaced by the storm are living in "inhumane" conditions in government-run shelters, a United Nations expert said on Tuesday. After a nine-day tour of Haiti, an independent UN human rights observer Gustavo Gallon described the difficult conditions the people were living in. "There is no food, no access to health services, no drinking water, and no clean installations and proper toilets," Gallon said shocked at the terrible state of the shelters. "These people are squeezed into 20 classrooms. They are hungry. There are two babies that were born there without help for delivery, and there are around 20 pregnant women there," he spoke about the Nord Alexis school, which is housing some 3,000 storm refugees, or 525 families, in the town of Jeremie. Warning of the psychological effects of the trauma, Gallon recalled how a young woman told him "we all became mentally ill." "The conditions in which these people find themselves in are inhumane and should be resolved immediately," he added. The hurricane destroyed or heavily damaged more than 770 schools, and the schools that were unaffected have been taken over by thousands of displaced families. Given the great stress suffered by storm refugees, many of whom lost everything, Gallon was perplexed by Haitian authorities' orders to prepare to resume classes. At least 546 people were killed, and more than 175,000 people were displaced in the storm that hit Haiti on October 4. (WION with inputs from agencies)

UN expert describes 'inhumane' conditions at Haiti hurricane shelters

North Carolina emergency officials estimate that flooding caused by Hurricane Matthew has caused $1.5 billion worth of damage to more than 100,000 homes, businesses and government buildings in the state, international news agency Reuters reported today.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The Department of Public Safety said in a release on Saturday that more than 33,000 applications for individual assistance to the Federal Management Agency (FEMA) have been filed and $12.4 million has been approved. The state officials said they were still surveying the damage left behind by the storm.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Hurricane Matthew has killed more than 20 people in North Carolina, with two more bodies recovered on Saturday as some flood waters receded.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

On Sunday, North Carolina&#39;s public safety department predicted that all rivers would be below flood levels by October 24, though there was still major flooding in several areas, reported Reuters.

&nbsp;

The deadly storm&nbsp;has left a trail of destruction from Haiti to North Carolina, which is nearly 2,000 km away. In Haiti, it has&nbsp;claimed some 1,000 lives.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

The department also said more than 33,000 applications for individual assistance have been filed and $12.4 million has been approved

North Carolina emergency officials estimate that flooding caused by Hurricane Matthew has caused $1.5 billion worth of damage to more than 100,000 homes, businesses and government buildings in the state, international news agency Reuters reported today. The Department of Public Safety said in a release on Saturday that more than 33,000 applications for individual assistance to the Federal Management Agency (FEMA) have been filed and $12.4 million has been approved. The state officials said they were still surveying the damage left behind by the storm. Hurricane Matthew has killed more than 20 people in North Carolina, with two more bodies recovered on Saturday as some flood waters receded. On Sunday, North Carolina's public safety department predicted that all rivers would be below flood levels by October 24, though there was still major flooding in several areas, reported Reuters. The deadly storm has left a trail of destruction from Haiti to North Carolina, which is nearly 2,000 km away. In Haiti, it has claimed some 1,000 lives. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

North Carolina estimates $1.5 billion in hurricane damage to more than 100,000 buildings

Hungry and angry Haitians looted a United Nations aid truck on Saturday as the&nbsp;UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon visited the country devastated by hurricane Matthew.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The category 4 hurricane tore through Haiti on October 4, killing more than 900 people and leaving 1.4 million in dire need of humanitarian aid, according to international news agency Reuters.&nbsp;Flooding has also sparked fears of a Cholera outbreak.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Ban Ki-Moon said he witnessed a looting incident in Les Cayes, where he has promised more aid in Haiti, BBC reported. &nbsp;The police and UN peacekeepers used tear gas to disperse the crowd that attacked the truck, the report said. &nbsp;

&nbsp;

&quot;We understand the impatience and the anger of the population who are waiting for emergency relief. We are doing all we can to facilitate the arrival of the assistance soon as possible,&quot; Ban was quoted as saying. &nbsp;He added that the UN will mobilise resources and medical support to stop the cholera epidemic and reach out to support the families of the victims.

&nbsp;

Haiti was earlier struck by a catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake which had killed 220,000 people, according to Haitian government figures.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

The police and UN peacekeepers used tear gas to disperse the crowd that attacked the truck

Hungry and angry Haitians looted a United Nations aid truck on Saturday as the UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon visited the country devastated by hurricane Matthew. The category 4 hurricane tore through Haiti on October 4, killing more than 900 people and leaving 1.4 million in dire need of humanitarian aid, according to international news agency Reuters. Flooding has also sparked fears of a Cholera outbreak. Ban Ki-Moon said he witnessed a looting incident in Les Cayes, where he has promised more aid in Haiti, BBC reported. The police and UN peacekeepers used tear gas to disperse the crowd that attacked the truck, the report said. "We understand the impatience and the anger of the population who are waiting for emergency relief. We are doing all we can to facilitate the arrival of the assistance soon as possible," Ban was quoted as saying. He added that the UN will mobilise resources and medical support to stop the cholera epidemic and reach out to support the families of the victims. Haiti was earlier struck by a catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake which had killed 220,000 people, according to Haitian government figures. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Hungry and angry Haitians loot food trucks

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon voiced distress on Saturday at the &quot;absolute devastation&quot; caused by a deadly hurricane in Haiti, and disappointment at scant emergency aid reaching the struggling nation.

&nbsp;

&quot;I am disappointed by the response of the international community. I sincerely hope and I urge the major donors to lend their helpful hand,&quot; Ban said at Port-au-Prince airport following a helicopter overflight of the hard-hit southern regions.

&nbsp;

Haiti is only just emerging from the devastating aftermath of a January 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people. The international aid that poured in at the time, poorly coordinated, became a major fiasco, with only a fraction of the funds reaching the victims of the catastrophe.

&nbsp;

&quot;I know there is some fatigue from certain countries, but the current situation, the current disaster that hit this country through Hurricane Matthew is beyond description,&quot; Ban said during a joint press conference with interim president Jocelerme Privert.

&nbsp;

At least 546 people were killed, and more than 175,000 people have lost their homes.

&nbsp;

Ban said Monday that a &quot;massive response&quot; was needed to cope with the destruction, with 1.4 million people in need of urgent assistance after towns and villages were almost wiped off the map.

&nbsp;

The United Nations has launched a flash appeal for $120 million to help Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, cope with its worst humanitarian crisis since a devastating 2010 earthquake.

&nbsp;

But so far, only about 12 per cent of the needed funds has been raised to help stave off famine and serious health crises, including cholera.

&nbsp;

&#39;Very, very sad&#39;&nbsp;

Privert, the interim leader, called for long-term support from allies.

&nbsp;

&quot;There will always be hurricanes, there will always be catastrophes. We need concrete actions to mitigate the damage from the next hurricanes that have not hit yet,&quot; Privert said.

&nbsp;

Earlier, Ban visited Les Cayes, one of the worst affected by Hurricane Matthew when it crashed ashore on October 4, packing winds of 145 miles (230 kilometers) per hour.

&nbsp;

&quot;I was very, very sad when we saw the complete devastation. But people the world over stand with you,&quot; the UN chief said, speaking in French.

&nbsp;

&quot;The United Nations stands by your side. We will mobilise all resources to help you.&quot;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The streets have been cleaned. The branches and tree trunks form massive heaps on the sidewalks. Businesses have reopened.

&nbsp;

Ban was warmly received at Philippe Guerrier high school, where more than 500 people are still huddled. He spoke with a young man who was wounded, before telling the displaced: &quot;kembe fem&quot; in Creole (&quot;hang in there&quot;).

&nbsp;

&quot;We have been told to leave because school has to start again, but we don&#39;t have anywhere to go,&quot; said Aivi Jean-Bar.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&quot;They bring us a bit to eat and drink, but that&#39;s not what we need. What we want to know is where we can go to sleep,&quot; the 36-year-old woman sheltering at the school with her four children told AFP.

(AFP)

Ban in his visit to Haiti slammed the international community for failing to provide any aid and urged people to donate

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon voiced distress on Saturday at the "absolute devastation" caused by a deadly hurricane in Haiti, and disappointment at scant emergency aid reaching the struggling nation. "I am disappointed by the response of the international community. I sincerely hope and I urge the major donors to lend their helpful hand," Ban said at Port-au-Prince airport following a helicopter overflight of the hard-hit southern regions. Haiti is only just emerging from the devastating aftermath of a January 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people. The international aid that poured in at the time, poorly coordinated, became a major fiasco, with only a fraction of the funds reaching the victims of the catastrophe. "I know there is some fatigue from certain countries, but the current situation, the current disaster that hit this country through Hurricane Matthew is beyond description," Ban said during a joint press conference with interim president Jocelerme Privert. At least 546 people were killed, and more than 175,000 people have lost their homes. Ban said Monday that a "massive response" was needed to cope with the destruction, with 1.4 million people in need of urgent assistance after towns and villages were almost wiped off the map. The United Nations has launched a flash appeal for $120 million to help Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, cope with its worst humanitarian crisis since a devastating 2010 earthquake. But so far, only about 12 per cent of the needed funds has been raised to help stave off famine and serious health crises, including cholera. 'Very, very sad' Privert, the interim leader, called for long-term support from allies. "There will always be hurricanes, there will always be catastrophes. We need concrete actions to mitigate the damage from the next hurricanes that have not hit yet," Privert said. Earlier, Ban visited Les Cayes, one of the worst affected by Hurricane Matthew when it crashed ashore on October 4, packing winds of 145 miles (230 kilometers) per hour. "I was very, very sad when we saw the complete devastation. But people the world over stand with you," the UN chief said, speaking in French. "The United Nations stands by your side. We will mobilise all resources to help you." The streets have been cleaned. The branches and tree trunks form massive heaps on the sidewalks. Businesses have reopened. Ban was warmly received at Philippe Guerrier high school, where more than 500 people are still huddled. He spoke with a young man who was wounded, before telling the displaced: "kembe fem" in Creole ("hang in there"). "We have been told to leave because school has to start again, but we don't have anywhere to go," said Aivi Jean-Bar. "They bring us a bit to eat and drink, but that's not what we need. What we want to know is where we can go to sleep," the 36-year-old woman sheltering at the school with her four children told AFP. (AFP)

UN chief urges against aid 'fatigue' in hurricane-hit Haiti

Haiti&#39;s long-delayed presidential and provincial elections, which were further postponed in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, will take place on November 20, electoral officials announced on Friday.

The second round in both elections will be held on January 29, its Provisional Electoral Council said.

The country was to go to polls last week, but they were postponed after the devastating effect of the hurricane that claimed at least 473 lives after it struck on October 4.

The country has been in a political impasse ever since the last elections, in 2015, were cancelled after protests by the opposition which alleged electoral fraud.

Its last elected president, Michel Martelly, left office in February without a replacement.

Parliament later elected Jocelerme Privert as the interim president but his 120-day mandate technically expired in June.

The impoverished nation has been grappling with poverty and major public health issues and is struggling to recover from the after effects of a devastating earthquake in 2010 that rendered thousands homeless. More than 10,000 people died of Cholera and around 700,000 people have been affected by the disease since then, AFP reports. 500 new cases are reported every week.

(WION with inputs from AFP)

&nbsp;

The impoverished Caribbean nation's last elections, in 2015, were canceled amid violence and massive fraud

Haiti's long-delayed presidential and provincial elections, which were further postponed in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, will take place on November 20, electoral officials announced on Friday. The second round in both elections will be held on January 29, its Provisional Electoral Council said. The country was to go to polls last week, but they were postponed after the devastating effect of the hurricane that claimed at least 473 lives after it struck on October 4. The country has been in a political impasse ever since the last elections, in 2015, were cancelled after protests by the opposition which alleged electoral fraud. Its last elected president, Michel Martelly, left office in February without a replacement. Parliament later elected Jocelerme Privert as the interim president but his 120-day mandate technically expired in June. The impoverished nation has been grappling with poverty and major public health issues and is struggling to recover from the after effects of a devastating earthquake in 2010 that rendered thousands homeless. More than 10,000 people died of Cholera and around 700,000 people have been affected by the disease since then, AFP reports. 500 new cases are reported every week. (WION with inputs from AFP)

Delayed Haiti elections to take place on November 20

Haiti faces a humanitarian crisis that requires a &quot;massive response&quot; from the international community, with at least 1.4 million people needing emergency aid following last week&rsquo;s Hurricane Matthew, &nbsp;the United Nations chief said on Monday.

&quot;A massive response is required,&quot; UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters.

&quot;Some towns and villages have been almost wiped off the map,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;These numbers and needs are growing as more affected areas are reached.&quot;

The storm has left at least 372 dead in the impoverished Caribbean nation, with the toll likely to soar.

The United Nations has launched a $120 million flash appeal to cover the needs in Haiti for the next three months, AFP reported.

After battering Haiti on October 4 as a Category 4 storm, that packed winds of 145 miles (230 kilometers) per hour, Matthew slammed into the southeastern United States and killed 20.

In Haiti, more than 300 schools have been damaged, while crops and food reserves have been destroyed, Ban said.

UN aid chief Stephen O&rsquo;Brien said the hurricane had triggered the worst humanitarian crisis in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake, AFP reported.

The department of Grande Anse in Haiti&rsquo;s southwest saw the most devastation with 198 dead, 97 injured and nearly 99,400 people staying in temporary shelters.

More than 175,500 are in shelters elsewhere in the country, AFP said.&nbsp;Deliveries of supplies were slowed by cut roads and communications.

&quot;I understand of course the frustration,&quot; Jean-Luc Poncelet, the country representative for the UN&rsquo;s World Health Organisation told AFP. &ldquo;the storm&rsquo;s impact in the south and west of the Tiburon Peninsula has been &quot;really catastrophic.&quot;

&quot;When you have no means of communication, no radio, no telephone, no roads and even a helicopter can&rsquo;t land -- this is what explains the massive delay,&quot; he told AFP.

(WION with inputs from AFP)

The UN has launched a $120 million flash appeal to cover Haiti's needs for the next three months

Haiti faces a humanitarian crisis that requires a "massive response" from the international community, with at least 1.4 million people needing emergency aid following last week’s Hurricane Matthew, the United Nations chief said on Monday. "A massive response is required," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters. "Some towns and villages have been almost wiped off the map," he said. "These numbers and needs are growing as more affected areas are reached." The storm has left at least 372 dead in the impoverished Caribbean nation, with the toll likely to soar. The United Nations has launched a $120 million flash appeal to cover the needs in Haiti for the next three months, AFP reported. After battering Haiti on October 4 as a Category 4 storm, that packed winds of 145 miles (230 kilometers) per hour, Matthew slammed into the southeastern United States and killed 20. In Haiti, more than 300 schools have been damaged, while crops and food reserves have been destroyed, Ban said. UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien said the hurricane had triggered the worst humanitarian crisis in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake, AFP reported. The department of Grande Anse in Haiti’s southwest saw the most devastation with 198 dead, 97 injured and nearly 99,400 people staying in temporary shelters. More than 175,500 are in shelters elsewhere in the country, AFP said. Deliveries of supplies were slowed by cut roads and communications. "I understand of course the frustration," Jean-Luc Poncelet, the country representative for the UN’s World Health Organisation told AFP. “the storm’s impact in the south and west of the Tiburon Peninsula has been "really catastrophic." "When you have no means of communication, no radio, no telephone, no roads and even a helicopter can’t land -- this is what explains the massive delay," he told AFP. (WION with inputs from AFP)

1.4 million in need of aid in hurricane battered Haiti: UN

The number of people killed by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti has hit 1,000 as the country battles deaths from cholera in the devastated southwest.

The country has started burying some of its dead in mass graves, a government official said on Sunday, news agency Reuters reported.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the powerful hurricane slammed into Haiti on Tuesday with 145 mile-per-hour (233 kph) winds and torrential rains that left 1.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Citing local officials, Reuters said 1,000 people were killed by the hurricane in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas.

The official death toll from the central civil protection agency is 336, a slower count because officials must visit each village to confirm the numbers.

Authorities had to start burying the dead in mass graves in Jeremie because the bodies were starting to decompose, said Kedner Frenel, the most senior central government official in the Grand&#39;Anse region on Haiti&#39;s western peninsula, Reuters reported.

Mr Frenel said 522 people died in Grand&#39;Anse alone.

A tally of deaths reported by mayors from 15 of 18 municipalities in Sud Department on the south side of the peninsula showed 386 people there.

The same tally showed 92 people were killed in the rest of the country.

According to Reuters, Mr Frenel said there was great concern about cholera spreading, and that authorities were focused on getting water, food, and medication to the thousands of people living in shelters.

Cholera causes severe diarrhea and can kill within hours if untreated. It is spread through contaminated water and has a short incubation period, which leads to rapid outbreaks. 
 
(WION with inputs from Reuters)

Hurrican Matthew has left 1.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance

The number of people killed by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti has hit 1,000 as the country battles deaths from cholera in the devastated southwest. The country has started burying some of its dead in mass graves, a government official said on Sunday, news agency Reuters reported. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the powerful hurricane slammed into Haiti on Tuesday with 145 mile-per-hour (233 kph) winds and torrential rains that left 1.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. Citing local officials, Reuters said 1,000 people were killed by the hurricane in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas. The official death toll from the central civil protection agency is 336, a slower count because officials must visit each village to confirm the numbers. Authorities had to start burying the dead in mass graves in Jeremie because the bodies were starting to decompose, said Kedner Frenel, the most senior central government official in the Grand'Anse region on Haiti's western peninsula, Reuters reported. Mr Frenel said 522 people died in Grand'Anse alone. A tally of deaths reported by mayors from 15 of 18 municipalities in Sud Department on the south side of the peninsula showed 386 people there. The same tally showed 92 people were killed in the rest of the country. According to Reuters, Mr Frenel said there was great concern about cholera spreading, and that authorities were focused on getting water, food, and medication to the thousands of people living in shelters. Cholera causes severe diarrhea and can kill within hours if untreated. It is spread through contaminated water and has a short incubation period, which leads to rapid outbreaks. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Haiti buries dead in mass graves as hurricane death toll rises to 1,000

Patients arrived every 10 or 15 minutes, brought on motorcycles by relatives with vomit-covered shoulders and hoisted up the stairs into southwest Haiti&#39;s Port-a-Piment hospital, where they could rest their weak, cholera-sapped limbs.

Less than a week since Hurricane Matthew slammed into Haiti, killing at least 1,000 people according to a tally of numbers from local officials, devastated corners of the country are facing a public health crisis as cholera gallops through rural communities lacking clean water, food&nbsp;and shelter.

Reuters visited the Port-a-Piment hospital early on Sunday morning, the first day southwestern Haiti&#39;s main coastal road had become semi-navigable by car.

At that time, there were 39 cases of cholera, according to Missole Antoine, the hospital&#39;s medical director. By the early afternoon, there were nearly 60, and four people had died of the waterborne illness.

&quot;That number is going to rise,&quot; said Antoine, as she rushed between patients laid out on the hospital floor.&nbsp;Although there were 13 cases of cholera before Matthew hit, Antoine said the cases had risen drastically since the hurricane cut off the desperately poor region.

The hospital lacks an ambulance&nbsp;or even a car, and Antoine said many new patients were coming from miles away, carried by family members on camp beds.&nbsp;Inside the hospital, grim-faced parents cradled young children whose eyes had sunk back and were unable to prop up their own heads.

&quot;I believe in the doctors, and also in God,&quot; said 37-year-old Roosevelt Dume, holding the head of his son, Roodly, as he tried to remain upbeat.

Out on the streets, the scene was also shocking. For miles on end, almost all the houses were reduced to little more than rubble and twisted metal. Colourful clothes were littered among the chaos.&nbsp;The region&#39;s banana crop was destroyed with vast fields of plantain flattened into a leafy mush. With neither government or foreign aid arriving quickly, people relied on felled coconuts for food and water.

The stench of death, be it human or animal, was everywhere.

In the village of Labei, near Port-a-Piment, locals said the river had washed down cadavers from villages upstream. With nobody coming to move the corpses, residents used planks of driftwood to push them down the river and into the sea.&nbsp;Down by the shore, the corpse of one man lay blistering in the sun. A few hundred metres to his left in a roadside gully, three dead goats stewed in the toxic slime.

&quot;It seems to me like a nuclear bomb went off,&quot; said Paul Edouarzin, a United Nations Environmental Program employee based near Port-a-Piment.&nbsp;

&quot;In terms of destruction, environmental and agricultural, I can tell you 2016 is worse than 2010,&quot; he added, referring to the devastating 2010 earthquake from which Haiti has yet to recover.

Diarrhea-stricken residents in the village of Chevalier were well aware of the nearby cholera outbreak&nbsp;but had little option except to drink the brackish water from the local well that they believed was already contaminated by dead livestock.

&quot;We have been abandoned by a government that never thinks of us,&quot; said Marie-Ange Henry, as she surveyed her smashed home.&nbsp;She said Chevalier had yet to receive any aid and many, like her, were coming down with fever. Cholera, she feared, was on its way.

Pierre Moise Mongerard, a pastor, was banking on divine assistance to rescue his roofless church in the village of Torbeck. In his Sunday best&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;a sports coat, chinos, and brown leather shoes&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;he joined a small choir in songs that echoed out into the surrounding rice fields.

&quot;We hope that God gives us the possibility to rebuild the Church and help the victims here in this area,&quot; he said, before the music seised him, and he slowly joined in the chant, closing his eyes and turning his palms up toward the sky.

(Reuters)

Devastated corners across Haiti are facing a public health crisis as cholera gallops through rural communities lacking clean water, food

Patients arrived every 10 or 15 minutes, brought on motorcycles by relatives with vomit-covered shoulders and hoisted up the stairs into southwest Haiti's Port-a-Piment hospital, where they could rest their weak, cholera-sapped limbs. Less than a week since Hurricane Matthew slammed into Haiti, killing at least 1,000 people according to a tally of numbers from local officials, devastated corners of the country are facing a public health crisis as cholera gallops through rural communities lacking clean water, food and shelter. Reuters visited the Port-a-Piment hospital early on Sunday morning, the first day southwestern Haiti's main coastal road had become semi-navigable by car. At that time, there were 39 cases of cholera, according to Missole Antoine, the hospital's medical director. By the early afternoon, there were nearly 60, and four people had died of the waterborne illness. "That number is going to rise," said Antoine, as she rushed between patients laid out on the hospital floor. Although there were 13 cases of cholera before Matthew hit, Antoine said the cases had risen drastically since the hurricane cut off the desperately poor region. The hospital lacks an ambulance or even a car, and Antoine said many new patients were coming from miles away, carried by family members on camp beds. Inside the hospital, grim-faced parents cradled young children whose eyes had sunk back and were unable to prop up their own heads. "I believe in the doctors, and also in God," said 37-year-old Roosevelt Dume, holding the head of his son, Roodly, as he tried to remain upbeat. Out on the streets, the scene was also shocking. For miles on end, almost all the houses were reduced to little more than rubble and twisted metal. Colourful clothes were littered among the chaos. The region's banana crop was destroyed with vast fields of plantain flattened into a leafy mush. With neither government or foreign aid arriving quickly, people relied on felled coconuts for food and water. The stench of death, be it human or animal, was everywhere. In the village of Labei, near Port-a-Piment, locals said the river had washed down cadavers from villages upstream. With nobody coming to move the corpses, residents used planks of driftwood to push them down the river and into the sea. Down by the shore, the corpse of one man lay blistering in the sun. A few hundred metres to his left in a roadside gully, three dead goats stewed in the toxic slime. "It seems to me like a nuclear bomb went off," said Paul Edouarzin, a United Nations Environmental Program employee based near Port-a-Piment. "In terms of destruction, environmental and agricultural, I can tell you 2016 is worse than 2010," he added, referring to the devastating 2010 earthquake from which Haiti has yet to recover. Diarrhea-stricken residents in the village of Chevalier were well aware of the nearby cholera outbreak but had little option except to drink the brackish water from the local well that they believed was already contaminated by dead livestock. "We have been abandoned by a government that never thinks of us," said Marie-Ange Henry, as she surveyed her smashed home. She said Chevalier had yet to receive any aid and many, like her, were coming down with fever. Cholera, she feared, was on its way. Pierre Moise Mongerard, a pastor, was banking on divine assistance to rescue his roofless church in the village of Torbeck. In his Sunday best – a sports coat, chinos, and brown leather shoes – he joined a small choir in songs that echoed out into the surrounding rice fields. "We hope that God gives us the possibility to rebuild the Church and help the victims here in this area," he said, before the music seised him, and he slowly joined in the chant, closing his eyes and turning his palms up toward the sky. (Reuters)

Cholera, destruction in Haiti after hurricane 'like a nuclear bomb'

Cholera has killed at least 13 people in southwest Haiti in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, officials said on Saturday, as government teams fanned out across the hard-hit southwestern tip of the country to repair treatment centers and reach the epicenter of one outbreak.

The storm took the lives of nearly 900 people in Haiti, many in remote towns clustered near the headland, according to a Reuters tally of numbers given by local officials.

Haiti&#39;s central civil protection agency raised to 336 its official death toll, a slower count because officials must visit each village to confirm the numbers.

The government said there would be three days of national mourning.

Six people died of cholera in a hospital in the town of Randel, which is inland on the peninsula, and another seven died in the coastal town of Anse-d&#39;Ainault on the western tip, the officials said, likely as flood waters mixed with sewage.

Cholera causes severe diarrhea and can kill within hours if untreated. It is spread through contaminated water and has a short incubation period, which leads to rapid outbreaks.

&quot;Randel is isolated, you must cross water, you must go high in the mountains, cars cannot go, motorcycles cannot go,&rdquo; said Eli Pierre Celestin, a member of team that fights cholera for the health ministry. &quot;People have started dying.&quot;

&quot;There are nurses but no doctors,&quot; he said, concerned that cholera would spread due to lack of hygiene and as ground water moved because of rain and floods.

He said there were also outbreaks in Port-a-Piment and Les Anglais, towns at the end of the Tiburon peninsula hardest hit by Matthew this week. Dr. Donald Francois, head of the Haitian health ministry&acute;s cholera program, said 62 others were sick with cholera as a result of the storm. He said he was traveling to the south to oversee the response.

Matthew slammed into South Carolina on Saturday, after skirting the Atlantic coast of Florida and Georgia, causing widespread power outages and flooding.

Clinics destroyed

Port Salut, one of several picturesque beach towns ravaged by waves, wind and rain, counted its first cholera case in seven months on Saturday, and two more suspected cases were brought by ambulance to the town&#39;s clinic.

U.S. medical aid group Americares dropped off supplies at the clinic, the only building standing among a group of shops flattened by the storm, before trying to reach Port-a-Piment further up the partially-flooded coastal road where the storm made landfall. A larger outbreak is suspected there.

Cholera was accidentally introduced to Haiti by United Nations peacekeepers after the 2010 earthquake and has since infected hundreds of thousands of people and killed more than 9,000 of them.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders scrambled teams by helicopter to southern Haiti to respond to cholera cases.

Clifford Gauther, the health ministry&acute;s director for Haiti&acute;s Sud Department, said cholera treatment centers, many made of metal sheeting, were destroyed by the hurricane. The ministry was rebuilding them.

Before the hurricane struck, the Central Emergency Response Fund released a loan of $8 million to the United Nations Childrens&#39; Fund, to ramp up the response to a worsening cholera epidemic in Haiti.

&quot;In 2016 almost 27,000 cholera cases have been reported in Haiti, and over 240 people have died. Hurricane Matthew is feared to significantly worsen the situation and increase the risk of a larger outbreak,&quot; CERF said in a statement on Friday.

It was hot and sunny on Saturday in Les Cayes in southern Haiti and residents cleared some debris from the streets. One man was putting up a tarpaulin over his exposed roof.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;At the town&#39;s main public hospital, floodwater had receded and a cholera clinic and emergency ward were in operation. The priority now was to try to restore electrical power so doctors would come to work at night, said hospital director Yves Domerbant.

As the shock of the storm wore off, the enormity of the damage was beginning to sink in.

&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;I have land but I don&#39;t have a house anymore.&nbsp;It&#39;s starting to traumatize me, my head hurts. I think about it too much,&quot; said Jean Vinel Joseph, 36, a medical orderly.

(Reuters)

At least 13 people have been killed in the outbreak as the Caribbean nation struggles to pick up the pieces

Cholera has killed at least 13 people in southwest Haiti in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, officials said on Saturday, as government teams fanned out across the hard-hit southwestern tip of the country to repair treatment centers and reach the epicenter of one outbreak. The storm took the lives of nearly 900 people in Haiti, many in remote towns clustered near the headland, according to a Reuters tally of numbers given by local officials. Haiti's central civil protection agency raised to 336 its official death toll, a slower count because officials must visit each village to confirm the numbers. The government said there would be three days of national mourning. Six people died of cholera in a hospital in the town of Randel, which is inland on the peninsula, and another seven died in the coastal town of Anse-d'Ainault on the western tip, the officials said, likely as flood waters mixed with sewage. Cholera causes severe diarrhea and can kill within hours if untreated. It is spread through contaminated water and has a short incubation period, which leads to rapid outbreaks. "Randel is isolated, you must cross water, you must go high in the mountains, cars cannot go, motorcycles cannot go,” said Eli Pierre Celestin, a member of team that fights cholera for the health ministry. "People have started dying." "There are nurses but no doctors," he said, concerned that cholera would spread due to lack of hygiene and as ground water moved because of rain and floods. He said there were also outbreaks in Port-a-Piment and Les Anglais, towns at the end of the Tiburon peninsula hardest hit by Matthew this week. Dr. Donald Francois, head of the Haitian health ministry´s cholera program, said 62 others were sick with cholera as a result of the storm. He said he was traveling to the south to oversee the response. Matthew slammed into South Carolina on Saturday, after skirting the Atlantic coast of Florida and Georgia, causing widespread power outages and flooding. Clinics destroyed Port Salut, one of several picturesque beach towns ravaged by waves, wind and rain, counted its first cholera case in seven months on Saturday, and two more suspected cases were brought by ambulance to the town's clinic. U.S. medical aid group Americares dropped off supplies at the clinic, the only building standing among a group of shops flattened by the storm, before trying to reach Port-a-Piment further up the partially-flooded coastal road where the storm made landfall. A larger outbreak is suspected there. Cholera was accidentally introduced to Haiti by United Nations peacekeepers after the 2010 earthquake and has since infected hundreds of thousands of people and killed more than 9,000 of them. The aid group Doctors Without Borders scrambled teams by helicopter to southern Haiti to respond to cholera cases. Clifford Gauther, the health ministry´s director for Haiti´s Sud Department, said cholera treatment centers, many made of metal sheeting, were destroyed by the hurricane. The ministry was rebuilding them. Before the hurricane struck, the Central Emergency Response Fund released a loan of $8 million to the United Nations Childrens' Fund, to ramp up the response to a worsening cholera epidemic in Haiti. "In 2016 almost 27,000 cholera cases have been reported in Haiti, and over 240 people have died. Hurricane Matthew is feared to significantly worsen the situation and increase the risk of a larger outbreak," CERF said in a statement on Friday. It was hot and sunny on Saturday in Les Cayes in southern Haiti and residents cleared some debris from the streets. One man was putting up a tarpaulin over his exposed roof. At the town's main public hospital, floodwater had receded and a cholera clinic and emergency ward were in operation. The priority now was to try to restore electrical power so doctors would come to work at night, said hospital director Yves Domerbant. As the shock of the storm wore off, the enormity of the damage was beginning to sink in. "I have land but I don't have a house anymore. It's starting to traumatize me, my head hurts. I think about it too much," said Jean Vinel Joseph, 36, a medical orderly. (Reuters)

Haiti: Cholera breaks out in wake of Hurricane Matthew

The death toll caused by Hurricane Matthew surged to at least 842 on Friday in Haiti and threatened more destruction further north.&nbsp;

The first major hurricane to threaten a direct hit on the United States in more than a decade lashed central Florida on Friday. &nbsp;

Carrying winds of 120 miles per hour, the storm triggered mass evacuations along the coast from Florida through Georgia and into South Carolina and North Carolina.&nbsp;

Southern Florida escaped the brunt of the storm overnight, but US President Barack Obama and other officials urged people farther north not to get complacent.

&ldquo;I just want to emphasiSe to everybody that this is still a really dangerous hurricane, that the potential for storm surge, loss of life and severe property damage exists and people continue to need to follow the instructions of their local officials over the next 24, 48, 72 hours,&quot; Obama told reporters after a briefing with emergency management and other officials.

The Florida coastal city of Jacksonville could face significant flooding, Florida Governor Rick Scott warned.

Governor Scott has urged some 1.5 million people in coastal areas of Florida to evacuate and he continued to urge people to move away from danger on Friday.

&quot;You still have time to evacuate. There&#39;s no reason to be taking risks,&quot; Scott told NBC`s &quot;Today&quot; program. &quot;The most important thing to me is that we don`t lose one life.&quot;

As of Friday morning, about 22,000 people were in Florida shelters and more moved inland or to the state&#39;s west coast, Scott said.

Poor rural communities in the Caribbean country of Haiti were ravaged by Matthew earlier this week. The entire southern part of the country was inundated by torrential rains and buffeted by violent winds that lasted for hours as Matthew made landfall in Haiti on Tuesday.

Cellphone networks were down and roads were flooded by sea and river water in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas.&nbsp;

Aid has been slow to reach towns and villages around the peninsula. Instead, locals have been helping each other.

&quot;My house wasn&#39;t destroyed, so I am receiving people, like it`s a temporary shelter,&quot; said Bellony Amazan in the town of Cavaillon, where around a dozen people died. Amazan said she had no food to give people. 
Information has slowly started to trickle in from remote areas previously cut off by the storm.

A US defence official on Friday said the United States is sending a Navy ship to aid Haiti.

&quot;The USS Mesa Verde has received an order to support the Southcom humanitarian effort in Haiti,&quot; the official said. Its 300 Marines will add to the 250 personnel and nine helicopters already ordered to deploy to Haiti.

The final storm toll in Haiti is expected to rise even higher, with mass destruction reported across the south of the country.

(WION with inputs from agencies)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

The United States is sending a Navy ship to Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, as the death toll expected to rise further

The death toll caused by Hurricane Matthew surged to at least 842 on Friday in Haiti and threatened more destruction further north. The first major hurricane to threaten a direct hit on the United States in more than a decade lashed central Florida on Friday. Carrying winds of 120 miles per hour, the storm triggered mass evacuations along the coast from Florida through Georgia and into South Carolina and North Carolina. Southern Florida escaped the brunt of the storm overnight, but US President Barack Obama and other officials urged people farther north not to get complacent. “I just want to emphasiSe to everybody that this is still a really dangerous hurricane, that the potential for storm surge, loss of life and severe property damage exists and people continue to need to follow the instructions of their local officials over the next 24, 48, 72 hours," Obama told reporters after a briefing with emergency management and other officials. The Florida coastal city of Jacksonville could face significant flooding, Florida Governor Rick Scott warned. Governor Scott has urged some 1.5 million people in coastal areas of Florida to evacuate and he continued to urge people to move away from danger on Friday. "You still have time to evacuate. There's no reason to be taking risks," Scott told NBC`s "Today" program. "The most important thing to me is that we don`t lose one life." As of Friday morning, about 22,000 people were in Florida shelters and more moved inland or to the state's west coast, Scott said. Poor rural communities in the Caribbean country of Haiti were ravaged by Matthew earlier this week. The entire southern part of the country was inundated by torrential rains and buffeted by violent winds that lasted for hours as Matthew made landfall in Haiti on Tuesday. Cellphone networks were down and roads were flooded by sea and river water in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas. Aid has been slow to reach towns and villages around the peninsula. Instead, locals have been helping each other. "My house wasn't destroyed, so I am receiving people, like it`s a temporary shelter," said Bellony Amazan in the town of Cavaillon, where around a dozen people died. Amazan said she had no food to give people. Information has slowly started to trickle in from remote areas previously cut off by the storm. A US defence official on Friday said the United States is sending a Navy ship to aid Haiti. "The USS Mesa Verde has received an order to support the Southcom humanitarian effort in Haiti," the official said. Its 300 Marines will add to the 250 personnel and nine helicopters already ordered to deploy to Haiti. The final storm toll in Haiti is expected to rise even higher, with mass destruction reported across the south of the country. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Hurricane Matthew batters Florida, Haiti death toll crosses 800

Hurricane Matthew killed almost 900 people and left tens of thousands homeless in Haiti earlier this week before it skirted Florida&#39;s Atlantic coast on Friday and plowed northward over waters just off Georgia.

The number of deaths in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, surged to at least 877 on Friday as information trickled in from remote areas previously cut off by the storm, according to a Reuters tally of death tolls given by officials.

Matthew triggered mass evacuations along the U.S. coast from Florida through Georgia and into South Carolina and North Carolina.

U.S. President Barack Obama urged people not to be complacent and to heed safety instructions.

&quot;The potential for storm surge, loss of life and severe property damage exists,&quot; Obama told reporters after a briefing with emergency management officials about the fiercest cyclone to affect the United States since Superstorm Sandy four years ago.

Matthew smashed through Haiti&#39;s western peninsula on Tuesday with 145 mile-per-hour (233 kph) winds and torrential rain. Some 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said, after the storm pushed the sea into fragile coastal villages, some of which were only now being contacted.

While highlighting the misery of underdevelopment in Haiti, which is still recovering from a devastating 2010 earthquake, the storm looked certain to rekindle the debate about global warming and the long-term threat posed by rising sea levels to low-lying cities and towns.

At least three towns in the hills and coast of Haiti&#39;s fertile western tip reported dozens of people killed, including the farming village of Chantal where the mayor said 86 people died, mostly when trees crushed houses. He said 20 others were missing.

&quot;A tree fell on the house and flattened it. The entire house fell on us. I couldn&rsquo;t get out,&quot; said driver Jean-Pierre Jean-Donald, 27, who had been married for only a year.

&quot;People came to lift the rubble, and then we saw my wife who had died in the same spot,&quot; Jean-Donald said, his young daughter by his side, crying &quot;Mommy.&quot;

With cellphone networks down and roads flooded, aid has been slow to reach hard-hit areas in Haiti. Food was scarce and at least seven people died of cholera, likely because of flood water mixing with sewage.

The Mesa Verde, a U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock ship, was heading for Haiti to support relief efforts. The ship has heavy-lift helicopters, bulldozers, fresh water delivery vehicles and two surgical operating rooms.

Four killed in Florida

Matthew sideswiped Florida&#39;s coast with winds of up to 120 mph (195 kph) but did not make landfall in the state. The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) downgraded the storm to a Category 2 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity as its sustained winds dropped to 110 mph. Category 5 is the strongest.

There were at least four storm-related deaths in Florida but no immediate reports of significant damage in cities and towns where the storm swamped streets, toppled trees and knocked out power to more than 1 million people.

Two people were killed by falling trees, according to Florida officials, and an elderly couple died of carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator while sheltering from the storm inside a garage.

Hurricane warnings late on Friday extended up the Atlantic coast from northeast Florida through Georgia and South Carolina and into North Carolina.

In Daytona Beach, the street under the city&#39;s famed &quot;World&#39;s Most Famous Beach&quot; sign was clogged with debris washed up by the ocean. The waves had receded by early afternoon but there was damage throughout the city, including a facade ripped off the front of a seaside hotel.

Robert Walker, a 51-year-old mechanic, weathered the worst of the storm in his seaside Daytona Beach apartment where high-powered winds peeled back the roof.

&quot;It sounded like a jet plane coming over. I was scared,&quot; said Walker as he stood in front of the battered remains of the two-story building..

At 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT Saturday), Matthew&#39;s eye was about 115 miles (185 km) south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and moving northward at 12 mph (19 kph), the NHC said.

After passing near or over the coast of Georgia it was on a track that would put it near or over South Carolina on Saturday. Though gradually weakening, it was forecast to remain a hurricane until it begins moving away from the U.S. Southeast on Sunday, the NHC said.

Reluctant to leave

Craig Fugate, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said he was concerned that relatively light damage so far could give people up the coast a false sense of security.

&quot;People should not be looking at the damages they&#39;re seeing and saying this storm is not that bad,&quot; Fugate told NBC.

&quot;The real danger still is storm surge, particularly in northern Florida and southern Georgia. These are very vulnerable areas. They&#39;ve never seen this kind of damage potential since the late 1800s,&quot; Fugate said.

In St. Augustine just south of Jacksonville, Florida, about half of the 14,000 residents refused to heed evacuation orders despite warnings of an 8-foot (2.4-meter) storm surge that could sink entire neighborhoods, Mayor Nancy Shaver said in a telephone interview from the area&rsquo;s emergency operations center.

Television images later showed water surging through streets in the historic downtown area of St. Augustine, the oldest U.S. city and a major tourist attraction.

&ldquo;There&#39;s that whole inability to suspend disbelief that I think really affects people in a time like this,&rdquo; Shaver said.&nbsp;

(Reuters)

A million people are in need of assistance but with roads flooded & cellphone networks down, aid has been slow to reach hard-hit areas

Hurricane Matthew killed almost 900 people and left tens of thousands homeless in Haiti earlier this week before it skirted Florida's Atlantic coast on Friday and plowed northward over waters just off Georgia. The number of deaths in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, surged to at least 877 on Friday as information trickled in from remote areas previously cut off by the storm, according to a Reuters tally of death tolls given by officials. Matthew triggered mass evacuations along the U.S. coast from Florida through Georgia and into South Carolina and North Carolina. U.S. President Barack Obama urged people not to be complacent and to heed safety instructions. "The potential for storm surge, loss of life and severe property damage exists," Obama told reporters after a briefing with emergency management officials about the fiercest cyclone to affect the United States since Superstorm Sandy four years ago. Matthew smashed through Haiti's western peninsula on Tuesday with 145 mile-per-hour (233 kph) winds and torrential rain. Some 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said, after the storm pushed the sea into fragile coastal villages, some of which were only now being contacted. While highlighting the misery of underdevelopment in Haiti, which is still recovering from a devastating 2010 earthquake, the storm looked certain to rekindle the debate about global warming and the long-term threat posed by rising sea levels to low-lying cities and towns. At least three towns in the hills and coast of Haiti's fertile western tip reported dozens of people killed, including the farming village of Chantal where the mayor said 86 people died, mostly when trees crushed houses. He said 20 others were missing. "A tree fell on the house and flattened it. The entire house fell on us. I couldn’t get out," said driver Jean-Pierre Jean-Donald, 27, who had been married for only a year. "People came to lift the rubble, and then we saw my wife who had died in the same spot," Jean-Donald said, his young daughter by his side, crying "Mommy." With cellphone networks down and roads flooded, aid has been slow to reach hard-hit areas in Haiti. Food was scarce and at least seven people died of cholera, likely because of flood water mixing with sewage. The Mesa Verde, a U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock ship, was heading for Haiti to support relief efforts. The ship has heavy-lift helicopters, bulldozers, fresh water delivery vehicles and two surgical operating rooms. Four killed in Florida Matthew sideswiped Florida's coast with winds of up to 120 mph (195 kph) but did not make landfall in the state. The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) downgraded the storm to a Category 2 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity as its sustained winds dropped to 110 mph. Category 5 is the strongest. There were at least four storm-related deaths in Florida but no immediate reports of significant damage in cities and towns where the storm swamped streets, toppled trees and knocked out power to more than 1 million people. Two people were killed by falling trees, according to Florida officials, and an elderly couple died of carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator while sheltering from the storm inside a garage. Hurricane warnings late on Friday extended up the Atlantic coast from northeast Florida through Georgia and South Carolina and into North Carolina. In Daytona Beach, the street under the city's famed "World's Most Famous Beach" sign was clogged with debris washed up by the ocean. The waves had receded by early afternoon but there was damage throughout the city, including a facade ripped off the front of a seaside hotel. Robert Walker, a 51-year-old mechanic, weathered the worst of the storm in his seaside Daytona Beach apartment where high-powered winds peeled back the roof. "It sounded like a jet plane coming over. I was scared," said Walker as he stood in front of the battered remains of the two-story building.. At 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT Saturday), Matthew's eye was about 115 miles (185 km) south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and moving northward at 12 mph (19 kph), the NHC said. After passing near or over the coast of Georgia it was on a track that would put it near or over South Carolina on Saturday. Though gradually weakening, it was forecast to remain a hurricane until it begins moving away from the U.S. Southeast on Sunday, the NHC said. Reluctant to leave Craig Fugate, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said he was concerned that relatively light damage so far could give people up the coast a false sense of security. "People should not be looking at the damages they're seeing and saying this storm is not that bad," Fugate told NBC. "The real danger still is storm surge, particularly in northern Florida and southern Georgia. These are very vulnerable areas. They've never seen this kind of damage potential since the late 1800s," Fugate said. In St. Augustine just south of Jacksonville, Florida, about half of the 14,000 residents refused to heed evacuation orders despite warnings of an 8-foot (2.4-meter) storm surge that could sink entire neighborhoods, Mayor Nancy Shaver said in a telephone interview from the area’s emergency operations center. Television images later showed water surging through streets in the historic downtown area of St. Augustine, the oldest U.S. city and a major tourist attraction. “There's that whole inability to suspend disbelief that I think really affects people in a time like this,” Shaver said. (Reuters)

Hurricane Matthew kills almost 900 in Haiti before hitting US

Hurricane Matthew hit Florida, Georgia and South Carolina in the&nbsp;United States after killing almost 900 people in Haiti but was reduced to a category 1 storm on Saturday.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) downgraded the storm to a Category 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds subsiding to a still dangerous 75 miles (130 kilometers) per hour, AFP reported.

&quot;The combination of a dangerous storm surge, the tide, and large and destructive waves will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline,&quot; the NHC said.

The Matthew appeared to be diminishing after hitting the southern coast of South Carolina after causing power outages in Florida and claiming at least four lives.

In Florida, 775,000 were without power, according to state utilities, while in South Carolina 433,000 had no power, Governor Nikki Haley said, Reuters reported. Florida governor Rick Scott told Reuters that more than 6,000 people stayed in shelters on Friday night.

&quot;We&#39;re all blessed that Matthew stayed off our coast,&quot; he said, though he also described extensive flooding, damaged roads, downed trees and homes without electricity. He predicted most people would have power back by Sunday evening.

&quot;The weather experts have described Matthew as a once in a 100-year type of storm,&quot; said Mayor Lenny Curry in Jacksonville, Florida.

Matthew triggered mass evacuations and cities were under curfew as the storm accelerated along the US coast from Florida through Georgia and into South Carolina and North Carolina.

Cities including Savannah and Charleston in South Carolina were under dusk-to-dawn curfews to keep people off the streets and guard against looting.

Streets in Charleston were flooding up to the top of the tires. However, the officials did not report any deaths, injuries or significant structural damage.

President Barack Obama has declared federal states of emergency in Florida, Georgia, and North and South Carolina.

A US Navy ship transport dock ship was en route to Haiti to support relief efforts. The US government was also airlifting in blankets, hygiene kits, kitchen sets and plastic sheeting for emergency shelters, a statement by the United States Agency for International Development said.

The storm caused major flooding and left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean coast. Tens of thousands were left homeless in Haiti earlier this week before it skirted Florida&#39;s Atlantic coast on Friday.

(WION with inputs from agencies)

Matthew triggered mass evacuations and cities were under curfew as the storm accelerated along the US coast from Florida through Georgia

Hurricane Matthew hit Florida, Georgia and South Carolina in the United States after killing almost 900 people in Haiti but was reduced to a category 1 storm on Saturday. The Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) downgraded the storm to a Category 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds subsiding to a still dangerous 75 miles (130 kilometers) per hour, AFP reported. "The combination of a dangerous storm surge, the tide, and large and destructive waves will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline," the NHC said. The Matthew appeared to be diminishing after hitting the southern coast of South Carolina after causing power outages in Florida and claiming at least four lives. In Florida, 775,000 were without power, according to state utilities, while in South Carolina 433,000 had no power, Governor Nikki Haley said, Reuters reported. Florida governor Rick Scott told Reuters that more than 6,000 people stayed in shelters on Friday night. "We're all blessed that Matthew stayed off our coast," he said, though he also described extensive flooding, damaged roads, downed trees and homes without electricity. He predicted most people would have power back by Sunday evening. "The weather experts have described Matthew as a once in a 100-year type of storm," said Mayor Lenny Curry in Jacksonville, Florida. Matthew triggered mass evacuations and cities were under curfew as the storm accelerated along the US coast from Florida through Georgia and into South Carolina and North Carolina. Cities including Savannah and Charleston in South Carolina were under dusk-to-dawn curfews to keep people off the streets and guard against looting. Streets in Charleston were flooding up to the top of the tires. However, the officials did not report any deaths, injuries or significant structural damage. President Barack Obama has declared federal states of emergency in Florida, Georgia, and North and South Carolina. A US Navy ship transport dock ship was en route to Haiti to support relief efforts. The US government was also airlifting in blankets, hygiene kits, kitchen sets and plastic sheeting for emergency shelters, a statement by the United States Agency for International Development said. The storm caused major flooding and left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean coast. Tens of thousands were left homeless in Haiti earlier this week before it skirted Florida's Atlantic coast on Friday. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Hurricane Matthew downgraded to Category 1 storm as it hits southeastern US coast

As the death toll in the wake of&nbsp;Hurricane&nbsp;Matthew rose to 572 on Friday (October 7), the United Nations was quoted as saying by Reuters that&nbsp;more than 350,000 people are in need of serious relief.

&nbsp;

Debris littered the streets of Jeremie, with houses reduced to rubble and cinderblock walls broken by falling trees. Residents spent Thursday (October 6), moving rubble from their homes and businesses.

&nbsp;

Jeremie resident Medelin Dorvil described a dire scene.

&nbsp;

&quot;We have big problems here. And what I mean is that there are almost no houses left standing. Luckily we didn&#39;t have loss of lives but we lost everything. Look, this was my small business that I completely lost. Everything is destroyed by rain. We don&#39;t have food, nor a hospital to get a healthcare,&quot; he said in video provided by the United Nations mission to Haiti.

&nbsp;

Another resident said he and his neighbors had lost everything in&nbsp;Hurricane&nbsp;Matthew.

&nbsp;

The entire southern part of the country was inundated by torrential rains and buffeted by violent winds that lasted for hours as Matthew made landfall in Haiti on Tuesday.

&nbsp;

The country, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, and one of the poorest in the world, is particularly vulnerable to storm damage due to extensive deforestation that has left many of its hillsides bare.

&nbsp;

The storm hit the country on Tuesday with wind speed 145 mph, flattening trees and houses.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

US President Barack Obama also&nbsp;declared a state of emergency in Georgia, which will be eligible along with states of Florida and South Carolina&nbsp;for federal hurricane relief.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

A federal state of emergency has also been declared by US president Barack Obama in Florida as Hurricane Matthew&#39;s powerful winds began to be felt along the state&#39;s southeast coast, international news agency AFP reported.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Authorising the Homeland Security Department and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)&nbsp;to coordinate disaster relief efforts, Obama has ordered federal aid to supplement state and local efforts to deal with the devastating storm.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Meanwhile, some three million people on the US southeast coast faced an urgent evacuation order on Thursday as the Hurricane Matthew bore down for a direct hit on Floria.

&nbsp;

&ldquo;Extremely dangerous, life-threatening weather conditions are forecast in the next 24 hours,&rdquo; the National Weather Service warned early Thursday afternoon, the New York Times reported. &ldquo;Airborne debris lofted by extreme winds will be capable of breaching structures, unprotected windows and vehicles.&rdquo;

&nbsp;

Florida&rsquo;s governor pleaded with people on Thursday to evacuate from the state&rsquo;s east coast, according to multiple reports.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&ldquo;There are no excuses,&rdquo; Mr. Scott said in Tallahassee, the state capital. &ldquo;You need to leave. Evacuate, evacuate, evacuate.&rdquo;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The governor&rsquo;s office was quoted as saying by New York Times&nbsp;that more than 1.5 million people were in evacuation zones, and that &quot;tolls had been suspended on the Florida Turnpike and other crucial routes&quot;.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

On Thursday, the storm also slammed the Bahamas, according to reports. Weather forecasters working out of Nassau airport had to flee for their lives, AFP reported.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The National Hurricane Center has called Matthew the strongest in the region in decades.

&nbsp;

According to AFP news agency, Haiti had not been hit head on by a Category Four storm in 52 years. The country&#39;s presidential election, scheduled for Sunday, has also been postponed.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The United Nations office for coordinating humanitarian affairs said half of Haiti&#39;s population of 11 million was expected to be affected.

&nbsp;

At least 350,000 people in Haiti, where thousands have lived in tents since the massive earthquake in 2010, need immediate assistance, the UN said.

&nbsp;

In Cuba, where some 1.3 million people were evacuated, there were no reported fatalities but four cities in the east were cut off because roads were blocked by large chunks of rock hurled by the storm.

&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

The country, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, and one of the poorest in the world, is particularly vulnerable to storm damage

As the death toll in the wake of Hurricane Matthew rose to 572 on Friday (October 7), the United Nations was quoted as saying by Reuters that more than 350,000 people are in need of serious relief. Debris littered the streets of Jeremie, with houses reduced to rubble and cinderblock walls broken by falling trees. Residents spent Thursday (October 6), moving rubble from their homes and businesses. Jeremie resident Medelin Dorvil described a dire scene. "We have big problems here. And what I mean is that there are almost no houses left standing. Luckily we didn't have loss of lives but we lost everything. Look, this was my small business that I completely lost. Everything is destroyed by rain. We don't have food, nor a hospital to get a healthcare," he said in video provided by the United Nations mission to Haiti. Another resident said he and his neighbors had lost everything in Hurricane Matthew. The entire southern part of the country was inundated by torrential rains and buffeted by violent winds that lasted for hours as Matthew made landfall in Haiti on Tuesday. The country, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, and one of the poorest in the world, is particularly vulnerable to storm damage due to extensive deforestation that has left many of its hillsides bare. The storm hit the country on Tuesday with wind speed 145 mph, flattening trees and houses. US President Barack Obama also declared a state of emergency in Georgia, which will be eligible along with states of Florida and South Carolina for federal hurricane relief. A federal state of emergency has also been declared by US president Barack Obama in Florida as Hurricane Matthew's powerful winds began to be felt along the state's southeast coast, international news agency AFP reported. Authorising the Homeland Security Department and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief efforts, Obama has ordered federal aid to supplement state and local efforts to deal with the devastating storm. Meanwhile, some three million people on the US southeast coast faced an urgent evacuation order on Thursday as the Hurricane Matthew bore down for a direct hit on Floria. “Extremely dangerous, life-threatening weather conditions are forecast in the next 24 hours,” the National Weather Service warned early Thursday afternoon, the New York Times reported. “Airborne debris lofted by extreme winds will be capable of breaching structures, unprotected windows and vehicles.” Florida’s governor pleaded with people on Thursday to evacuate from the state’s east coast, according to multiple reports. “There are no excuses,” Mr. Scott said in Tallahassee, the state capital. “You need to leave. Evacuate, evacuate, evacuate.” The governor’s office was quoted as saying by New York Times that more than 1.5 million people were in evacuation zones, and that "tolls had been suspended on the Florida Turnpike and other crucial routes". On Thursday, the storm also slammed the Bahamas, according to reports. Weather forecasters working out of Nassau airport had to flee for their lives, AFP reported. The National Hurricane Center has called Matthew the strongest in the region in decades. According to AFP news agency, Haiti had not been hit head on by a Category Four storm in 52 years. The country's presidential election, scheduled for Sunday, has also been postponed. The United Nations office for coordinating humanitarian affairs said half of Haiti's population of 11 million was expected to be affected. At least 350,000 people in Haiti, where thousands have lived in tents since the massive earthquake in 2010, need immediate assistance, the UN said. In Cuba, where some 1.3 million people were evacuated, there were no reported fatalities but four cities in the east were cut off because roads were blocked by large chunks of rock hurled by the storm. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Hurricane Matthew kills more than 500 in Haiti, 350,000 people in need of relief

The United States began evacuating coastal areas on Wednesday as Hurricane Matthew churned toward the Bahamas, after killing at least 14 people in the Caribbean in a maelstrom of wind, mud and water.

Haiti&#39;s presidential election, scheduled for Sunday, was postponed after Matthew blasted the impoverished nation, knocking out a key bridge providing access to the country&#39;s south where the storm made landfall.

Matthew, the worst storm to hit the Caribbean in nearly a decade, also forced the closure of airports in the Bahamas, which was girding for a hit as early as Wednesday evening.

All cruise ships have been re-routed from the popular tourist destination, the government said.&nbsp;

&quot;Seriously consider now moving to higher grounds. Natural phenomena can be violently unpredictable,&quot; Bahamian Prime Minister Perry Christie said, addressing southern coastal communities.

US President Barack Obama warned Americans in the storm&#39;s path -- including more than a million people told to evacuate from vulnerable coastal areas -- to take the threat seriously.

&quot;We hope for the best, but we want to prepare for the worst,&quot; he said.

The storm slammed into Haiti and Cuba as a Category Four hurricane on Tuesday but has since been downgraded to three, on a scale of five, by the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).&nbsp;

Its winds were howling at 115 miles per hour (185 kilometers per hour).

No relief&nbsp;

The NHC said Matthew&#39;s recent weakening would be &quot;short-lived,&quot; forecasting that the storm would intensify late Wednesday into Thursday.

In the southeastern US state of Florida, a frequent target of hurricanes, residents were calm -- with Matthew on track to approach the coast on Thursday evening.

&quot;I cannot emphasize it enough that everyone in our state must prepare now for a direct hit,&quot; said Governor Rick Scott, as evacuation orders were issued -- some voluntary, some mandatory -- across different parts of the state.

Schools and universities closed for the rest of the week, authorities were distributing sandbags for doorways, and store shelves were bare.

&quot;We&#39;re not really afraid, Florida has been through this thing for years,&quot; said Rick Basel, 63, a retiree loading his car with food and water to last three or four days.

Further north in South Carolina, Governor Nikki Haley ordered the evacuation of several coastal counties, affecting more than one million people.

The order included the historic city of Charleston, a tourist magnet boasting cobblestone streets lined with graceful antebellum homes.

News footage showed bumper to bumper jams on highways and tensions were high as some gas stations ran out of fuel.

&quot;Please do not call 911 because a gas station is out of gas. Remember to be patient with one another,&quot; the police department in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina said on Twitter.&nbsp;

The state&#39;s emergency authority warned against price gouging and reminded would-be profiteers that such practices could be punishable by a $1,000 fine, 30 days in jail, or both.

The US Air Force was moving aircraft from bases in Florida, Virginia and North Carolina ahead of the storm. Parts of Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina were also shuttering.

Decimated&nbsp;

As Matthew barreled northwest, Haiti and Cuba began the grim task of assessing the storm&#39;s toll.

Matthew&#39;s overall death toll stood at 14 -- 10 in Haiti and four in the Dominican Republic -- but looked certain to climb.

The United Nations office for coordinating humanitarian affairs said half of Haiti&#39;s population of 11 million was expected to be affected in one way or another.

Across the region more than 600,000 people are in emergency shelters, more than half of them in Haiti where thousands have lived in tents since the massive earthquake in 2010, the UN said.

At least 350,000 people in Haiti need immediate assistance, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon&#39;s office said, quoting the Haitian government.

The US military said on&nbsp;Wednesday it is sending helicopters, an aircraft carrier and troops to provide humanitarian assistance to Haiti -- which had not been hit by a Category Four storm in 52 years.

In Cuba, where some 1.3 million people were evacuated, there were no reported fatalities but four cities in the east were cut off because roads were blocked by large chunks of rock hurled by the storm.

Officials reported flooding and waves up to five meters (16 feet) in eastern coastal villages.

Matthew also decimated Baracoa, the first Spanish settlement in Cuba.

&quot;There&#39;s nothing left of Baracoa. Just debris and remains,&quot; said resident Quirenia Perez, 35, speaking to AFP by cell phone after losing her roof, electricity and landline in the storm.

She added: &quot;The big colonial houses in the city center, which were so pretty, are destroyed.&quot;&nbsp;

(AFP)

The hurricane has killed at least 14 people in the Caribbean

The United States began evacuating coastal areas on Wednesday as Hurricane Matthew churned toward the Bahamas, after killing at least 14 people in the Caribbean in a maelstrom of wind, mud and water. Haiti's presidential election, scheduled for Sunday, was postponed after Matthew blasted the impoverished nation, knocking out a key bridge providing access to the country's south where the storm made landfall. Matthew, the worst storm to hit the Caribbean in nearly a decade, also forced the closure of airports in the Bahamas, which was girding for a hit as early as Wednesday evening. All cruise ships have been re-routed from the popular tourist destination, the government said. "Seriously consider now moving to higher grounds. Natural phenomena can be violently unpredictable," Bahamian Prime Minister Perry Christie said, addressing southern coastal communities. US President Barack Obama warned Americans in the storm's path -- including more than a million people told to evacuate from vulnerable coastal areas -- to take the threat seriously. "We hope for the best, but we want to prepare for the worst," he said. The storm slammed into Haiti and Cuba as a Category Four hurricane on Tuesday but has since been downgraded to three, on a scale of five, by the US National Hurricane Center (NHC). Its winds were howling at 115 miles per hour (185 kilometers per hour). No relief The NHC said Matthew's recent weakening would be "short-lived," forecasting that the storm would intensify late Wednesday into Thursday. In the southeastern US state of Florida, a frequent target of hurricanes, residents were calm -- with Matthew on track to approach the coast on Thursday evening. "I cannot emphasize it enough that everyone in our state must prepare now for a direct hit," said Governor Rick Scott, as evacuation orders were issued -- some voluntary, some mandatory -- across different parts of the state. Schools and universities closed for the rest of the week, authorities were distributing sandbags for doorways, and store shelves were bare. "We're not really afraid, Florida has been through this thing for years," said Rick Basel, 63, a retiree loading his car with food and water to last three or four days. Further north in South Carolina, Governor Nikki Haley ordered the evacuation of several coastal counties, affecting more than one million people. The order included the historic city of Charleston, a tourist magnet boasting cobblestone streets lined with graceful antebellum homes. News footage showed bumper to bumper jams on highways and tensions were high as some gas stations ran out of fuel. "Please do not call 911 because a gas station is out of gas. Remember to be patient with one another," the police department in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina said on Twitter. The state's emergency authority warned against price gouging and reminded would-be profiteers that such practices could be punishable by a $1,000 fine, 30 days in jail, or both. The US Air Force was moving aircraft from bases in Florida, Virginia and North Carolina ahead of the storm. Parts of Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina were also shuttering. Decimated As Matthew barreled northwest, Haiti and Cuba began the grim task of assessing the storm's toll. Matthew's overall death toll stood at 14 -- 10 in Haiti and four in the Dominican Republic -- but looked certain to climb. The United Nations office for coordinating humanitarian affairs said half of Haiti's population of 11 million was expected to be affected in one way or another. Across the region more than 600,000 people are in emergency shelters, more than half of them in Haiti where thousands have lived in tents since the massive earthquake in 2010, the UN said. At least 350,000 people in Haiti need immediate assistance, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's office said, quoting the Haitian government. The US military said on Wednesday it is sending helicopters, an aircraft carrier and troops to provide humanitarian assistance to Haiti -- which had not been hit by a Category Four storm in 52 years. In Cuba, where some 1.3 million people were evacuated, there were no reported fatalities but four cities in the east were cut off because roads were blocked by large chunks of rock hurled by the storm. Officials reported flooding and waves up to five meters (16 feet) in eastern coastal villages. Matthew also decimated Baracoa, the first Spanish settlement in Cuba. "There's nothing left of Baracoa. Just debris and remains," said resident Quirenia Perez, 35, speaking to AFP by cell phone after losing her roof, electricity and landline in the storm. She added: "The big colonial houses in the city center, which were so pretty, are destroyed." (AFP)

US begins evacuations in coastal areas as Hurricane Matthew tears into Bahamas

Hurricane Matthew, the fiercest Caribbean storm in almost a decade, powered toward the Bahamas and Florida&#39;s eastern coast early on Wednesday after battering Haiti and Cuba with torrential rains and killing at least 17 people.

The hurricane, which the United Nations said created the worst humanitarian crisis to hit struggling Haiti since a devastating 2010 earthquake, whipped Cuba and Haiti with 140 mile-per-hour (230 kph) winds on Tuesday, pummeling towns, farmland and resorts.

In the United States, millions of people were urged to evacuate the southeastern coast and Florida Governor Rick Scott warned residents to prepare for a possible direct hit that could be catastrophic.

Hundreds of thousands of people had been evacuated from the path of the Matthew, which caused severe flooding and killed four people in the Dominican Republic as well as at least 13 in Haiti, the two countries that share the island of Hispaniola.

The storm carved a path of devastation through western Haiti, destroying houses, dumping boats and debris on coastal roads and heavily flooding residential areas.

Matthew was a Category Four hurricane through Tuesday but was downgraded to Category Three early on Wednesday, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Maximum sustained winds eased to about 120 mph (193 kph) by late Wednesday morning but the NHC said the hurricane was likely to strengthen again slightly in the coming days.

The eye of the storm was about 105 miles (169 km) south of Long Island in the Bahamas on Wednesday morning and it was expected to be very near the east coast of Florida by Thursday evening, the NHC said.

&quot;Everyone in our state must prepare now for a direct hit,&quot; Scott said at a news conference in Tallahassee. &quot;If Matthew directly impacts Florida, the destruction could be catastrophic and you need to be prepared.&quot;

It was difficult to assess the severity of Matthew&#39;s impact in Haiti because it knocked out communications in many of the worst-affected areas, including the main bridge that links much of the country to the southwest peninsula.

Impoverished Haiti was a particular concern because tens of thousands of people still are living in tents and makeshift dwellings due to the 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people.

DEADLY TREES

Authorities said on Wednesday five people in Haiti were crushed by trees and six were swept away by swollen rivers.

&quot;More than 1,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed by the flood waters and violent winds,&quot; said Ernst Ais, the mayor of the town of Cavaillon, near Les Cayes. He said a mother and three children died in floodwaters in his town.

Three men were killed in Leogane, near Port-au-Prince, when a coconut palm fell on their home, the mayor there said.

Mourad Wahba, the UN&nbsp;secretary-general&#39;s deputy special representative for Haiti, said much of the population had been displaced by Matthew and at least 10,000 were in shelter.

&quot;Haiti is facing the largest humanitarian event witnessed since the earthquake six years ago,&quot; he said.

Heifer International, a nonprofit organization working with farming families in Haiti, said farmland and businesses caught in Matthew&#39;s path had been devastated.

The US&nbsp;government said it was ready to help the afflicted and about 300 U.S. Marines set off on the USS Mesa Verde to provide disaster relief in Haiti, the Marines said in a tweet.

There were no immediate reports of deaths, casualties or major damage in Cuba, where the government emphasized hurricane preparation. But Matthew did thrash the tourist town of Baracoa in the province of Guantanamo, gutting many houses and dumping hunks of cement, wooden beams, roof tiles and fallen electrical lines on the streets.

The storm passed close to the disputed U.S. Naval base and military prison, and was on track to mow over the central and northwestern Bahamas, the NHC forecasts showed.

Santiago de Cuba, the second-largest city, which lies in the southeast of Cuba, was not badly hit, state media said.

Officials in the Bahamas urged residents to evacuate to higher ground and the Ministry for Grand Bahama said on Facebook that government offices in New Providence and Grand Bahama were closed until further notice.

Hurricane and tropical storm warnings were extended along the east coast of Florida as the storm moved north.

South Carolina Governor Nikkei Haley on Tuesday declared a state of emergency&nbsp;and ordered the evacuation of more than 1 million people from Wednesday afternoon.

Tropical storm or hurricane conditions could affect parts of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina later this week, even if the center of Matthew remained offshore, the NHC said. Scott told residents to brace for tornadoes, strong winds, rip currents and flooding and urged those along the state&#39;s eastern coast to make plans to evacuate.

(Reuters)

The storm destroyed houses, dumping boats and debris on coastal roads and heavily flooding residential areas in western Haiti

Hurricane Matthew, the fiercest Caribbean storm in almost a decade, powered toward the Bahamas and Florida's eastern coast early on Wednesday after battering Haiti and Cuba with torrential rains and killing at least 17 people. The hurricane, which the United Nations said created the worst humanitarian crisis to hit struggling Haiti since a devastating 2010 earthquake, whipped Cuba and Haiti with 140 mile-per-hour (230 kph) winds on Tuesday, pummeling towns, farmland and resorts. In the United States, millions of people were urged to evacuate the southeastern coast and Florida Governor Rick Scott warned residents to prepare for a possible direct hit that could be catastrophic. Hundreds of thousands of people had been evacuated from the path of the Matthew, which caused severe flooding and killed four people in the Dominican Republic as well as at least 13 in Haiti, the two countries that share the island of Hispaniola. The storm carved a path of devastation through western Haiti, destroying houses, dumping boats and debris on coastal roads and heavily flooding residential areas. Matthew was a Category Four hurricane through Tuesday but was downgraded to Category Three early on Wednesday, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Maximum sustained winds eased to about 120 mph (193 kph) by late Wednesday morning but the NHC said the hurricane was likely to strengthen again slightly in the coming days. The eye of the storm was about 105 miles (169 km) south of Long Island in the Bahamas on Wednesday morning and it was expected to be very near the east coast of Florida by Thursday evening, the NHC said. "Everyone in our state must prepare now for a direct hit," Scott said at a news conference in Tallahassee. "If Matthew directly impacts Florida, the destruction could be catastrophic and you need to be prepared." It was difficult to assess the severity of Matthew's impact in Haiti because it knocked out communications in many of the worst-affected areas, including the main bridge that links much of the country to the southwest peninsula. Impoverished Haiti was a particular concern because tens of thousands of people still are living in tents and makeshift dwellings due to the 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people. DEADLY TREES Authorities said on Wednesday five people in Haiti were crushed by trees and six were swept away by swollen rivers. "More than 1,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed by the flood waters and violent winds," said Ernst Ais, the mayor of the town of Cavaillon, near Les Cayes. He said a mother and three children died in floodwaters in his town. Three men were killed in Leogane, near Port-au-Prince, when a coconut palm fell on their home, the mayor there said. Mourad Wahba, the UN secretary-general's deputy special representative for Haiti, said much of the population had been displaced by Matthew and at least 10,000 were in shelter. "Haiti is facing the largest humanitarian event witnessed since the earthquake six years ago," he said. Heifer International, a nonprofit organization working with farming families in Haiti, said farmland and businesses caught in Matthew's path had been devastated. The US government said it was ready to help the afflicted and about 300 U.S. Marines set off on the USS Mesa Verde to provide disaster relief in Haiti, the Marines said in a tweet. There were no immediate reports of deaths, casualties or major damage in Cuba, where the government emphasized hurricane preparation. But Matthew did thrash the tourist town of Baracoa in the province of Guantanamo, gutting many houses and dumping hunks of cement, wooden beams, roof tiles and fallen electrical lines on the streets. The storm passed close to the disputed U.S. Naval base and military prison, and was on track to mow over the central and northwestern Bahamas, the NHC forecasts showed. Santiago de Cuba, the second-largest city, which lies in the southeast of Cuba, was not badly hit, state media said. Officials in the Bahamas urged residents to evacuate to higher ground and the Ministry for Grand Bahama said on Facebook that government offices in New Providence and Grand Bahama were closed until further notice. Hurricane and tropical storm warnings were extended along the east coast of Florida as the storm moved north. South Carolina Governor Nikkei Haley on Tuesday declared a state of emergency and ordered the evacuation of more than 1 million people from Wednesday afternoon. Tropical storm or hurricane conditions could affect parts of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina later this week, even if the center of Matthew remained offshore, the NHC said. Scott told residents to brace for tornadoes, strong winds, rip currents and flooding and urged those along the state's eastern coast to make plans to evacuate. (Reuters)

Hurricane Matthew kills at least 17

Hurricane Matthew pummeled Haiti and moved on to Cuba after killing seven people, unleashing floods and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee the Caribbean&#39;s worst storm in nearly a decade.

Far to the north, the first evacuations were ordered in the United States as coastal dwellers prepared to flee the approaching monster storm, expected off the East Coast later this week.

The death toll stood at seven, three in Haiti and four in the Dominican Republic, but was certain to rise as dangerous Matthew bruised its way north.

The full scope of the damage, both human and material, remained unclear. Civil protection officials in Haiti said they were struggling to communicate with the south after Matthew&#39;s furious wind and rain blew down telephone lines.

The collapse of a bridge cut off the only road linking Port-au-Prince to the peninsula that makes up southern Haiti.

&quot;It&#39;s going to be difficult to find an alternative route,&quot; civil protection spokesman Edgar Celestin told AFP.

Next in line, Cuba was hit late in the afternoon on its eastern tip.

The storm&#39;s eye made landfall around 0000 GMT, moving toward the north near 15 kilometers (nine miles) per hour, the US National Hurricane Center said.

Americans girded for a taste of nature&#39;s fury. South Carolina said it would start evacuating 1.1 million people from its coast starting Wednesday and try to get them at least 160 kilometers inland. Georgia declared a state of emergency in 13 counties.

&quot;It&#39;s not going to be a fast evacuation. It could take up to several hours,&quot; South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said. &quot;If you can leave early, do that.&quot;

&#39;Extremely dangerous&#39;&nbsp;

Matthew made landfall in Haiti shortly after daybreak as an &quot;extremely dangerous&quot; Category Four storm, the maximum is five, near the southwestern town of Les Anglais, packing top winds of around 230 kilometers per hour, the US National Hurricane Center said.

It marked the first time in 52 years that a Category Four storm made landfall in Haiti.

Even before making landfall along the southern edge of a jagged peninsula on Hispaniola, the island that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, Matthew was blamed for at least three deaths in Haiti, with fears that the toll could climb.&nbsp;

Four more deaths were reported later in the Dominican Republic, where officials said 200 homes were damaged.

After Cuba, the storm is expected to hit the Bahamas late Tuesday or Wednesday.

It was forecast to dump 38 to 63 centimeters (15 to 25 inches) of rain over southern Haiti with up to a meter possible in isolated areas&nbsp;and has been blamed for triggering mudslides.

The key port of Les Cayes, the country&#39;s third city is &quot;very seriously damaged&quot;, said Hervil Cherubin, Haiti director for the aid group Heifer International. &quot;Most roofs of houses, shops, gas stations are all gone.&quot;

&quot;Businesses near the ocean have totally disappeared, washed away,&quot; he added, with farms &quot;disappeared&quot; and livestock killed.

The country is home to almost 11 million people, many living in fragile housing.

Thousands are still living in tents in Haiti after the country&#39;s massive earthquake in 2010. Erosion is especially dangerous because of high mountains and a lack of trees and bushes in areas where they have been cut for fuel.

More than 9,000 Haitians were evacuated to temporary shelters at area schools and churches, the Interior Ministry said.

But civil protection forces have struggled with locals who refused to leave some of the most vulnerable areas, where residents face serious flooding risks.

Schools will remain closed until Monday, but the authorities have not said whether long-delayed presidential and legislative elections scheduled for Sunday will still take place.

First deluge, then mudslides&nbsp;

Matthew already holds the longevity record for a Category Four and Five hurricane in the Caribbean, according to meteorologist Philip Klotzbach of the Colorado State University.

It is expected to move past Cuba during the night.

Officials reported significant flooding and waves up to five meters (16 feet) in coastal villages in the east -- but no casualties so far.

The authorities evacuated some 1.3 million people.

One stalwart who stayed, 63-year-old Roberto Gates, ventured out to buy rum. &quot;I have food for today and tomorrow, and then we&#39;ll see,&quot; he said.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) dispatched an elite disaster response team to the Bahamas, Haiti and Jamaica.

It is also sending some $400,000 in assistance to aid groups in Haiti and Jamaica and emergency relief supplies including blankets, plastic sheeting and water containers. &nbsp;

The Pentagon said 700 family members were evacuated over the weekend to Florida from the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, on Cuba&#39;s eastern tip.

Forecasters predict the hurricane could hit the US East Coast around midweek. Florida, South Carolina and parts of North Carolina have also declared states of emergency.

President Barack Obama postponed a trip to South Florida, where he had planned to attend a campaign event in support of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

&quot;If #Matthew directly impacts FL there will be massive destruction that we haven&#39;t seen in years,&quot; Florida Governor Rick Scott said on Twitter.

(AFP) 
&nbsp;

The death toll stood at seven, three in Haiti and four in the Dominican Republic, but was certain to rise as Matthew bruised its way north

Hurricane Matthew pummeled Haiti and moved on to Cuba after killing seven people, unleashing floods and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee the Caribbean's worst storm in nearly a decade. Far to the north, the first evacuations were ordered in the United States as coastal dwellers prepared to flee the approaching monster storm, expected off the East Coast later this week. The death toll stood at seven, three in Haiti and four in the Dominican Republic, but was certain to rise as dangerous Matthew bruised its way north. The full scope of the damage, both human and material, remained unclear. Civil protection officials in Haiti said they were struggling to communicate with the south after Matthew's furious wind and rain blew down telephone lines. The collapse of a bridge cut off the only road linking Port-au-Prince to the peninsula that makes up southern Haiti. "It's going to be difficult to find an alternative route," civil protection spokesman Edgar Celestin told AFP. Next in line, Cuba was hit late in the afternoon on its eastern tip. The storm's eye made landfall around 0000 GMT, moving toward the north near 15 kilometers (nine miles) per hour, the US National Hurricane Center said. Americans girded for a taste of nature's fury. South Carolina said it would start evacuating 1.1 million people from its coast starting Wednesday and try to get them at least 160 kilometers inland. Georgia declared a state of emergency in 13 counties. "It's not going to be a fast evacuation. It could take up to several hours," South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said. "If you can leave early, do that." 'Extremely dangerous' Matthew made landfall in Haiti shortly after daybreak as an "extremely dangerous" Category Four storm, the maximum is five, near the southwestern town of Les Anglais, packing top winds of around 230 kilometers per hour, the US National Hurricane Center said. It marked the first time in 52 years that a Category Four storm made landfall in Haiti. Even before making landfall along the southern edge of a jagged peninsula on Hispaniola, the island that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, Matthew was blamed for at least three deaths in Haiti, with fears that the toll could climb. Four more deaths were reported later in the Dominican Republic, where officials said 200 homes were damaged. After Cuba, the storm is expected to hit the Bahamas late Tuesday or Wednesday. It was forecast to dump 38 to 63 centimeters (15 to 25 inches) of rain over southern Haiti with up to a meter possible in isolated areas and has been blamed for triggering mudslides. The key port of Les Cayes, the country's third city is "very seriously damaged", said Hervil Cherubin, Haiti director for the aid group Heifer International. "Most roofs of houses, shops, gas stations are all gone." "Businesses near the ocean have totally disappeared, washed away," he added, with farms "disappeared" and livestock killed. The country is home to almost 11 million people, many living in fragile housing. Thousands are still living in tents in Haiti after the country's massive earthquake in 2010. Erosion is especially dangerous because of high mountains and a lack of trees and bushes in areas where they have been cut for fuel. More than 9,000 Haitians were evacuated to temporary shelters at area schools and churches, the Interior Ministry said. But civil protection forces have struggled with locals who refused to leave some of the most vulnerable areas, where residents face serious flooding risks. Schools will remain closed until Monday, but the authorities have not said whether long-delayed presidential and legislative elections scheduled for Sunday will still take place. First deluge, then mudslides Matthew already holds the longevity record for a Category Four and Five hurricane in the Caribbean, according to meteorologist Philip Klotzbach of the Colorado State University. It is expected to move past Cuba during the night. Officials reported significant flooding and waves up to five meters (16 feet) in coastal villages in the east -- but no casualties so far. The authorities evacuated some 1.3 million people. One stalwart who stayed, 63-year-old Roberto Gates, ventured out to buy rum. "I have food for today and tomorrow, and then we'll see," he said. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) dispatched an elite disaster response team to the Bahamas, Haiti and Jamaica. It is also sending some $400,000 in assistance to aid groups in Haiti and Jamaica and emergency relief supplies including blankets, plastic sheeting and water containers. The Pentagon said 700 family members were evacuated over the weekend to Florida from the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, on Cuba's eastern tip. Forecasters predict the hurricane could hit the US East Coast around midweek. Florida, South Carolina and parts of North Carolina have also declared states of emergency. President Barack Obama postponed a trip to South Florida, where he had planned to attend a campaign event in support of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. "If #Matthew directly impacts FL there will be massive destruction that we haven't seen in years," Florida Governor Rick Scott said on Twitter. (AFP)

Hurricane Matthew pummels Haiti and Cuba, evacuations ordered in US

&nbsp;

The US National Hurricane Centre warned that the center of the hurricane will approach Jamaica and southwestern Haiti on Monday, in possibly the most powerful storm to hit the Carribean.&nbsp;Hurricane Matthew threatens to produce devastating flash floods and mud slides.&nbsp;

Haiti began preparing for the storm evacuating residents by boats from remote islands. Albert Moulion, Haiti&#39;s interior ministry spokesman, &quot;We have already started evacuations,&quot; he said. &quot;The national center of emergency operations has been activated.&quot;The hurricane will also touch Jamaica&#39;s southern coast, the US National Hurricane Center is expecting up to 40 inches of rainfall in Haiti and 25 inches in Jamaica.&nbsp;

The Jamaican government was placing some 2,000 homeless people in shelters, Desmond McKenzie, minister of local government and community development said. He also said the army reserves had been called to help limit the damage.

&quot;The hurricane will cause an interruption, obviously, in our economic activities here,&quot; Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness told Reuters in an interview on Saturday. &quot;We have allocated all the resources we can given our fiscal restraints and I think that the country is prepared for the hurricane,&quot; he added.&nbsp;Jamaica has been going through an economic slowdown and the damage from the storm is expected to imapct the economy further.&nbsp;

Residents in Kingston, Jamaica&#39;s capital were stocking up on food&nbsp;and other necessities before the storm hit. A warning was also issued to fishermen to stay away from the seas.&nbsp;

Moving up the coast packing winds of up to 160 miles (260 kilometres) per hour, the storm claimed its first fatality on Friday in Colombia.&nbsp;

La Guajira&#39;s governor, Jorge Velez, said a 67-year-old man had drowned, &quot;Yes, unfortunately, a man was taken by a stream in Uribia. He was missing this morning. We were informed that the person was found drowned and this marks the first victim that, unfortunately, we have had at this point for the hurricane,&quot; Reuters reported.&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

Emergency evacuations were activated in Jamaica and Haiti as floods and high winds from Hurricane Matthew threatens to wreak havoc

The US National Hurricane Centre warned that the center of the hurricane will approach Jamaica and southwestern Haiti on Monday, in possibly the most powerful storm to hit the Carribean. Hurricane Matthew threatens to produce devastating flash floods and mud slides. Haiti began preparing for the storm evacuating residents by boats from remote islands. Albert Moulion, Haiti's interior ministry spokesman, "We have already started evacuations," he said. "The national center of emergency operations has been activated."The hurricane will also touch Jamaica's southern coast, the US National Hurricane Center is expecting up to 40 inches of rainfall in Haiti and 25 inches in Jamaica. The Jamaican government was placing some 2,000 homeless people in shelters, Desmond McKenzie, minister of local government and community development said. He also said the army reserves had been called to help limit the damage. "The hurricane will cause an interruption, obviously, in our economic activities here," Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness told Reuters in an interview on Saturday. "We have allocated all the resources we can given our fiscal restraints and I think that the country is prepared for the hurricane," he added. Jamaica has been going through an economic slowdown and the damage from the storm is expected to imapct the economy further. Residents in Kingston, Jamaica's capital were stocking up on food and other necessities before the storm hit. A warning was also issued to fishermen to stay away from the seas. Moving up the coast packing winds of up to 160 miles (260 kilometres) per hour, the storm claimed its first fatality on Friday in Colombia. La Guajira's governor, Jorge Velez, said a 67-year-old man had drowned, "Yes, unfortunately, a man was taken by a stream in Uribia. He was missing this morning. We were informed that the person was found drowned and this marks the first victim that, unfortunately, we have had at this point for the hurricane," Reuters reported. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Hurricane Matthew: Jamaica, Haiti brace for fiercest storm in decade

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