Published: October 2,2016
After strengthening to a rare Category 5 late Friday evening, the deadly hurricane weakened into a strong Category 4 overnight, threatening Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica with potentially devastating rain and winds.
Haiti
The Haiti Gazette reports that 89 people were evacuated from rising storm surge Sunday from the Abreu islet near Ile-à-Vaches.Deforestation has greatly increased the potential for devastating floods and landslides in Haiti. Couple that with the state of the country's dilapidated homes and buildings and the possibility of heavy casualties from the storm seems likely, reports the Associated Press.
Haiti Libre reports that more than 55,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are living in tents and makeshift shelters on the island and are in danger from the storm.
The Haitian government has mobilized regional civil protection agencies throughout the county to coordinate response actions, according to the Haiti Gazette.
President Jocelerme Privert urged Haitians to listen closely to the warnings of officials and be ready to move in an address to the nation broadcast on state radio, reports the AP.
"To those people living in houses that could collapse, it's necessary that you leave these houses to take refuge in schools and churches," he said.
In anticipation of the storm, authorities are sending of medicine and hygiene kits to areas most at risk.
A
worker nails a board to use on a storefront window as protection
against hurricane Matthew in Kingston, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016. One of
the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent history weakened a
little on Saturday as it drenched coastal Colombia and roared across the
Caribbean on a course that threatened Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba.(AP Photo/Collin Reid)
According to the AP, 1,300 emergency shelters have opened up across the country, enough to hold up to 340,000 people.
Authorities are broadcasting warnings over the radio and across social media, urging residents to move to the shelters, trying to counter a common tendency for people to try to stay in their homes to protect themselves during natural disasters.
Joseph Edgard Celestin, a spokesman for the civil protection agency, said the shelters are open but no one has arrived.
(MORE: Track Tropical Storm Matthew)
Despite teams of civil protection officials walking the streets of Les Cayes, where the worst of the storm is projected to hit, urging residents to prepare for the storm, many Haitians appear unaware of the looming hurricane.
"No, I haven't heard anything about a bad storm coming here," farmer Jean-Bernard Mede told the AP as he walked three cows along a dirt track outside the town of Leogane. "I'll do what I can for my animals and my family."
Workers for the non-profit organization World Vision unloading supplies before Hurricane Matthew makes landfall.(World Vision)
Emergency management authorities placed a ban on boating Saturday, particularly along the country's southern coastline.
In an e-mail to weather.com, Lauren Fisher, public relations manager for disasters and international news for World Vision, said her non-profit organization has mobilized ahead of the storm to aid the Haitian people.
(More: Photos of Hurricane Matthew)
"(We
have) pre-positioned emergency supplies to assist up to 15,000 families
with items including tarps, water containers, hygiene kits and
blankets," said Fisher. "We’re mobilizing with plans to provide relief
for approximately 250,000 people, depending on the impact of the storm."
She
added that "partners in some of the most vulnerable communities have
been alerted and are going door-to-door to provide families with
information ahead of landfall."
Jamaica
High surf began pounding Jamaica's coast and flooding temporarily shut down the road linking the capital to its airport, AP also reports.
People
buy groceries and supplies before the arrival of Hurricane Matthew in
Portmore, Jamaica on Oct. 1,2016. Hurricane Matthew, the most powerful
Caribbean storm in a decade, churned towards Jamaica and Haiti on a path
that forecasters said could eventually take it to the eastern United
States. (RICHARDO MAKYN/AFP/Getty Images)
of Port Royal, where officials were urging residents to seek refuge in government shelters once they open up on Sunday.
Sunday night Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie made an urged impassioned plea for people in low-lying and flood-prone areas of Jamaica to get to the nearest shelter, according to The Jamaica Observer.
The government arranged to have buses available to move residents that are willing to go to the shelter at the National Arena in Kingston.
McKenzie noted that the country's infrastructure cannot withstand the expected winds and rains.
The Caribbean country's emergency management agency began deploying supplies to shelters ahead of the storm. Local store shelves were cleared out as people stocked up on emergency supplies.
"I left work to pick up a few items, candles, tin stuff, bread," said resident Angella Wage. "We can never be too careful."
Jamaican refining company Petrojam says it will shut down its 28,000 barrel per day facility in Kingston eight hours ahead of the storm, company spokeswoman Latoya Pennant told Reuters.
Cuba
Cuba
declared the first stage of an emergency in five of its eastern
provinces, Reuters also reports. In Santiago de Cuba, shelters were
opened and organized volunteer teams cleaned storm drains and gathered
food stocks.
The Associated Press reported that
non-essential personnel and family members of military personnel were
evacuated from the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay. About 5,500 people
live on the base, including 61 men held at the detention center.
The Miami Herald reports that 700 parents and their children began evacuating Saturday, along with family pets, to Pensacola, Florida.
Navy Capt. David Culpepper, the base commander, notified residents over Radio Gitmo to begin evacuating on Saturday.
“We
have to prepare for the worst-case scenario,” Culpepper said. “Things
are kind of in motion here at this point. We are trying to execute the
most prudent plan given what we know.”
Cuban President Raul Castro traveled to the eastern city of Santiago ahead of the storm.
The
85-year-old said the nation needed to prepare as if were twice as
powerful as Hurricane Sandy, which devastated Cuba's second-largest city
in 2012.The country has come to a virtual standstill as hundreds of Cuban soldiers mobilized around the city.
Preparations in the United States
Although it is too early to know for certain where Matthew will head after it hits the Greater Antilles, in an abundance of caution, authorities in several states are making plans should the storm make landfall on U.S. soil.The South Carolina Emergency Management Division issued a press release informing the public it has recommended the state's emergency response team review disaster preparedness plans. Officials in Horry, Beaufort and Charleston counties say they're on alert status, noting that the storm's path is too uncertain to rule out any possibility.
Earlier in the Week
Earlier this week, the storm was blamed for two deaths.Authorities in Colombia said a 67-year-old man was killed after being swept away by a flash flood in an area where it hadn't rained for years, the Associated Press reports. The inundation damaged at least 27 houses along the La Guajira peninsula and washed out two roads.
Overall, the damage was minimal and some authorities said they were grateful for the rain.
"Families that evacuated are returning to their homes," said La Guajira Gov. Jorge Velez. "The dikes and wells filled up, the earth is moist and this benefits agriculture in an area where it hasn't rained for five years, benefitting the community."
According to St. Lucia News Online, the victim was a teenager who was trapped against a house by a boulder that was dislodged by the storm.
In Martinique, 63,000 homes were without electricity throughout the night, due primarily to fallen trees, according to Martinique TV1. Schools closed, flights were canceled and public transportation was halted as the storm begins to thrash the island.
The storm has prompted a change in itinerary for several cruise ships bound for the area, according to Cruise Critic.
MORE: Hurricane Matthew — October 2016
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