Evacuations in Haiti begin ahead of powerful storm

BrandPower Magazine 02/10/2016Last Updated: 02/10/2016

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A man walks on a pier in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 1 October Haiti has begun evacuating residents from high-risk areas as Hurricane Matthew threatens widespread damage with flash floods and winds of up to 240km/h (150mph), forecasters say.

The strongest hurricane in the Atlantic in almost a decade is expected to hit Haiti and Jamaica on Monday, the US National Hurricane Center says.

Residents have been stocking up on emergency supplies.

Jamaican PM Andrew Holness has urged citizens to make preparations .

The category-four hurricane is expected to bring up to 64 cm (25 inches) of rain, which could trigger life-threatening landslides and floods, according to forecasters.

The storm is expected to hit Jamaica and Haiti on Monday, but residents should be feeling its effects by Sunday.

Hurricane Matthew may slam Cuba, the Bahamas and South Florida later next week, forecasters said.

Residents in South Florida have “the luxury of time,” said Rick Knabb, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. But he urged people to use it to prepare and buy supplies.

Weather models currently have hurricane Matthew possibly scraping the southern part of the state, but the hurricane center said Saturday afternoon that models are uncertain beyond the next three days.

In Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, residents from outlying islands have been evacuated, and officials have banned boating.

The hurricane is expected to cause up to 101 cm (40 inches) of rain there.

An evacuation of non-essential personnel was under way at the base and everyone remaining there was being told to take shelter, the Navy said in a statement.

There are about 5,500 people living on the base, including 61 men held at the detention centre.

Cuban President Raul Castro travelled to Santiago to supervise preparations.

Hurricane Matthew is the strongest storm in the region since Hurricane Felix in 2007. It briefly reached the top category five on a scale of intensity, before weakening slightly.