{"id":254757,"date":"2016-10-04T11:34:42","date_gmt":"2016-10-04T11:34:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=254757"},"modified":"2016-10-04T11:34:42","modified_gmt":"2016-10-04T11:34:42","slug":"hurricane-matthew-dangerous-storm-closes-in-on-haiti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=254757","title":{"rendered":"Hurricane Matthew: Dangerous storm closes in on Haiti"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent years is closing in on Haiti, bringing winds, rains and storm surges.<\/p>\n

Hurricane Matthew, a Category Four storm, is forecast to hit the western tip of Haiti early on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“Life-threatening” conditions are already bearing down on the island, the US National Hurricane Center said.<\/p>\n

Interim Haitian President Jocelerme Privert said a number of people had been killed.<\/p>\n

“We’ve already seen deaths. People who were out at sea. There are people who are missing. They are people who didn’t respect the alerts. They’ve lost their lives,” he said.<\/p>\n

Matthew could bring up to 40in (102cm) of rain and winds of 145mph (230km\/h), potentially triggering mudslides and flash floods.<\/p>\n

Its centre is forecast to hit Haiti’s south-western tip around dawn (1100 GMT).<\/p>\n

Haiti is one of the world’s poorest countries and many residents live in areas prone to flooding.<\/p>\n

“Part of the problem in Haiti is it’s quite mountainous and Matthew is a slow-moving hurricane so it could deliver large amounts of rain,” John Cangialosi of the US National Hurricane Center told the BBC.<\/p>\n

“Best advice for anyone in Haiti is hopefully get somewhere, the safest place you can be, to ride this out.”<\/p>\n

\"CivilImage copyright<\/span>AP<\/span><\/span>
Image caption<\/span>Haitian authorities have been trying to persuade people to evacuate their homes<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"AImage copyright<\/span>REUTERS<\/span><\/span>
Image caption<\/span>Many Haitians live in flimsy huts vulnerable to flooding. The sign reads “house for sale”<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"AImage copyright<\/span>REUTERS<\/span><\/span>
Image caption<\/span>Some parts of the island have already been witnessing the effects of Hurricane Matthew<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"AImage copyright<\/span>REUTERS<\/span><\/span>
Image caption\u00a0<\/span>A fisherman has been reported drowned<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"PeopleImage copyright<\/span>AP<\/span><\/span>
Image caption<\/span>Parts of Cuba are also on alert<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Authorities have urged people to stock up on food and water and secure their homes. Thousands are still living in tents following a huge earthquake in 2010.<\/p>\n

The mayor of Haiti’s largest slum in the capital Port-au-Prince, Frederic Hislain, called on the government to evacuate some 150,000 people whose homes are threatened.<\/p>\n

Haitian officials say that about 1,300 emergency shelters have been built, enough to accommodate 340,000 people. Both airports in Haiti are closed.<\/p>\n

But some Haitians have refused to go to shelters, fearful of having their possessions stolen.<\/p>\n

One local in Port-au-Prince, however, said the community would unite in the face of the storm’s danger.<\/p>\n

“We are communicating amongst ourselves thanks to our own means. We will tell the people how the situation is. If things are bad then we will come together.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/span><\/figure>\n

About 13,000 people were evacuated from high-risk areas in neighbouring Dominican Republic, which is also expected to get battered by rains and winds, according to the country’s civil defence chief.<\/p>\n

Heavy rain and winds have already hit parts of Jamaica, with floodwaters blocking roads in the capital Kingston.<\/p>\n

Matthew is later expected to reach eastern Cuba, where a hurricane alert is in place for six eastern provinces and residents are being moved from low-lying areas.<\/p>\n

It is also predicted to hit the US east coast later in the week. Florida and parts of North Carolina have declared states of emergency.<\/p>\n

Hurricane Matthew is the region’s most powerful since Felix in 2007.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent years is closing in on Haiti, bringing winds, rains and storm surges. Hurricane Matthew, a Category Four storm, is forecast to hit the western tip of Haiti early on Tuesday. “Life-threatening” conditions are already bearing down on the island, the US National Hurricane Center said. Interim […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":254761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-254757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=254757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/254761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=254757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=254757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=254757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}