Heavy rains from the outer bands of Hurricane Matthew drenched Jamaica and Haiti on Monday, flooding streets and sending many people to emergency shelters as the Category 4 storm approached the two countries. Two deaths were reported in Haiti, bringing the total for the storm to at least four.
Matthew had sustained winds of 140 mph (220 kph) as it moved north, up from 130 mph (210 kph) earlier in the day. The center was expected to pass just east of Jamaica and near or over the southwestern tip of Haiti early Tuesday before heading to eastern Cuba, the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
"We are looking at a dangerous hurricane that is heading into the vicinity of western Haiti and eastern Cuba," said Richard Pasch, a senior hurricane specialist with the center. "People who are impacted by things like flooding and mudslides hopefully would get out and relocate because that's where we have seen loss of life in the past."
Many were taking that advice. In Jamaica, more than 700 people packed shelters in the eastern parish of St. Thomas and the Salvation Army said its 200-bed shelter in Kingston was at twice its capacity and it put out an urgent call for mattresses and cots. Many streets flooded throughout the country's southeast.
In Haiti, authorities went door to door in the south coast cities of Les Cayes and Jeremie to make sure people were aware of the storm. At least 1,200 people were evacuated to shelters in churches and schools.
"We are continuing to mobilize teams in the south to move people away from dangerous areas," said Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, head of Haiti's civil protection agency.
In Port-au-Prince, schools were shuttered and residents lined up at gas stations and cleared out the shelves at supermarkets as a light rain fell in the capital. Some worried the city of roughly a million people would not fare well. "We are not prepared," unemployed mason Fritz Achelus said as he watched water pool on a downtown street.
At least two fishermen died in rough water churned up by the storm, Jean-Baptiste said.

Source: Arab News