Hurricane Mathew: Death toll increases to 283 in Haiti

The death toll in Haiti as a result of Hurricane Matthew has soared to 283, the government says. Some 50 people were reported to have died in the southern town of Roche-a-Bateau alone. The peninsula's main city, Jeremie, saw 80 per cent of its buildings levelled. In Sud province 30,000 homes were destroyed.

Hurricane Matthew, the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade slammed into the Bahamas yesterday. The storm intensified as it barreled towards the southeast coast where millions of residents heeded warnings to flee inland. With winds of 125mph, it is expected to hit Florida today. More than two million people have been



evacuated from the coastal areas of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. North Carolina could also be affected as the storm moves north.

Matthew has since been upgraded from a category three to a category four storm while en route to Florida's Atlantic coast. The US National Hurricane Centre has extended its hurricane warning area farther north into Georgia and more than 12 million US residents were under hurricane watches and warnings.

President Barack Obama yesterday declared a federal state of emergency in Florida as Hurricane Matthew's powerful winds began to be felt along the state's southeast coast.