Hurricane Matthew could deliver a 'devastating blow' to Haiti and Cuba

The National Hurricane Center is calling Hurricane Matthew, a category 4 storm, "extremely dangerous," with conditions that suggest it won't let up.

"It's kind of a resilient hurricane, it hasn't really wavered much in terms of its strength," Michael Lowry, hurricane specialist for The Weather Channel, told NBC News. "It's a little bit unusual to go 48 hours with a category 4 or 5 hurricane and not see some sort of fluctuation." Matthew is the most powerful Atlantic tropical storm since 2007, and at 8 p.m. ET Sunday, was 265 miles south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, with maximum sustained winds close to 145 mph. Forecasters expect the center to near southwestern Haiti and Jamaica on Monday, remain powerful through Tuesday, and make its way to the Bahamas by Wednesday.

"This is shaping up to be a devastating blow, especially to places like Haiti and Cuba," Domenica Davis, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel, said. At least two people have already been killed — a man was swept to sea in Colombia and a teen was crushed by a boulder on the island of St. Vincent — and the U.S. government is preparing to airlift hundreds of people from the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, where they expect as much as 25 inches of rain.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up