Hurricane Matthew kills at least 26, bears down on Bahamas, US

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The fiercest Caribbean storm in almost a decade battered Haiti's southwest coast.
Brewery employees work to make sandbags in the heart of downtown as Hurricane Matthew approaches Nassau, Bahamas Oct 5, 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS
A woman protecting herself from the rain with plastic after hurricane Matthew, in Port-au-Prince, on Oct 4, 2016. PHOTO: AFP
People crossing a bridge over a rushing river as part of evacuations during Hurricane Matthew in Port au Prince, Haiti, on Oct 4 2016. PHOTO: EPA
Trees damaged by wind are seen during Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti, on Oct 4 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS
People inspecting the rising water level of a river due to the rains caused by Hurricane Matthew passing through Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Oct 4 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS
Waves crashing against the Baracoa shore, Cuba, on Oct 4 2016. PHOTO: EPA
People are seen walking in flooded streets, in a neighbourhood of the commune of Cite Soleil, in the Haitian Capital Port-au-Prince, on Oct 4, 2016. PHOTO: AFP
A car making its way through flooded street, in a neighbourhood of the commune of Cite Soleil, in the Haitian Capital Port-au-Prince, on Oct 4, 2016. PHOTO: AFP
The flooded neighbourhood of La Puya, in Santo Domingo on Oct 4, 2016. PHOTO: AFP
Dean Legge (right) helping his sister-law Josey Vereen (left) remove a mattress at her beachfront home along Waccamaw Drive in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew in Garden City Beach, South Carolina, US, on Oct 4 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS

GUANTANAMO (REUTERS) - Hurricane Matthew twisted toward the Bahamas and Florida's east coast on Wednesday after killing at least 26 people and damaging a majority of homes in Haiti's south, prompting the hard-hit country to postpone a long-awaited presidential election.

The powerful Category 3 hurricane, the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, whipped Cuba and Haiti with 140 mile-per-hour (230-kph) winds and torrential rains on Tuesday, pummelling towns and destroying livestock, crops and homes.

In the United States, millions of people were urged to evacuate the southeastern coast and Florida Governor Rick Scott warned residents to prepare for a possible direct hit that could be catastrophic.

Hundreds of thousands of people had been evacuated from the path of Matthew, which caused severe flooding and killed four people in the Dominican Republic as well as at least 22 in Haiti. The two countries share the island of Hispaniola.

The storm carved a path of devastation through southwestern Haiti, dumping boats and debris on coastal roads hit by surging seas and heavily flooding residential areas.

Some 80 per cent of homes were damaged in Haiti's Sud Department, which has a population of more than 700,000, a government official said in a meeting with U.N. officials. About 11,000 people were in shelters in the province.

Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, had been set to hold a repeatedly-postponed presidential election on Sunday, but the country's electoral council delayed it again in the aftermath of Matthew. No new date has yet been set.

Matthew was a Category 4 hurricane through Tuesday but was downgraded to still powerful Category 3 early on Wednesday, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said.

The storm had sustained winds of about 195kmh on Wednesday afternoon but the NHC said it could strengthen over warm waters as it approaches Florida.

The eye of the storm was about 113km south of Long Island in the Bahamas at 2pm EST (2am on Thursday, Singapore time) and was expected to be very near the east coast of Florida by Thursday evening, the NHC said.

"Everyone in our state must prepare now for a direct hit," Florida Governor Scott told a news conference in Tallahassee. "If Matthew directly impacts Florida, the destruction could be catastrophic and you need to be prepared."

It was difficult to assess the full extent of Matthew's impact in Haiti because it knocked out communications in many of the worst-affected areas, including the main bridge that links much of the country to the southwest peninsula.

Haiti was a particular concern because it is prone to mudslides due to extensive deforestation and tens of thousands of people are still living in tents and makeshift dwellings after the 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people.

A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Haitian government estimated 350,000 people needed immediate assistance.

The death toll in Haiti included at least eight people killed by falling trees and six others swept away by swollen rivers, authorities said.

Mourad Wahba, the UN secretary-general's deputy special representative for Haiti, said much of the population had been displaced by Matthew and at least 14,000 were in shelter.

The storm had triggered "the largest humanitarian event" witnessed in Haiti since the 2010 quake, he said.

The US government said it was ready to help the afflicted and about 300 US Marines set off on the USS Mesa Verde to provide disaster relief in Haiti, the Marines said in a tweet.

There were no immediate reports of deaths in Cuba, but Matthew devastated the picture-postcard tourist town of Baracoa, Cuba's oldest colonial settlement, in the province of Guantanamo. It gutted many houses there, dumping hunks of cement, wooden beams, roof tiles and fallen electrical lines on the streets.

The storm passed close to the disputed US Naval base and military prison in Guantanamo and was on track to mow over the central and northwestern Bahamas, the NHC forecasts showed.

Officials in the Bahamas urged residents to evacuate to higher ground and the Ministry for Grand Bahama said on Facebook that government offices in New Providence and Grand Bahama were closed until further notice.

Hurricane and tropical storm warnings have been extended along a large stretch of Florida's east coast ahead of Matthew's forecast arrival there on Thursday.

Tropical storm or hurricane conditions could affect parts of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina later this week, even if the center of Matthew remained offshore, the NHC said.

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