Hurricane Matthew slams into western Haiti

The most powerful Caribbean hurricane in nearly a decade has hit Haiti, bringing 145mph (230km/h) winds, heavy rain and dangerous storm surges. Hurricane Matthew, a Category Four storm, made landfall at the south-western tip at about 11:00 GMT. The US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said Haiti was “getting everything a major hurricane can throw at […]

The most powerful Caribbean hurricane in nearly a decade has hit Haiti, bringing 145mph (230km/h) winds, heavy rain and dangerous storm surges.
Hurricane Matthew, a Category Four storm, made landfall at the south-western tip at about 11:00 GMT.
The US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said Haiti was “getting everything a major hurricane can throw at them”.
Reports from the southern coast spoke of communities under water and buildings stripped of roofs.
Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, director of the country’s Civil Protection Agency, told Associated Press: “It’s much too early to know how bad things are but we do know there are a lot of houses that have been destroyed or damaged in the south.”
One resident too ill to leave their home was killed when waves struck in the town of Port Salut. Haiti’s Interim President Jocelerme Privert said earlier that some people at sea or who had not “respected alerts” had died, but he gave no more details.