The 11:00 p.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center puts Matthew about 340 miles (550 kilometers) south-southwest of Port Au Price, Haiti and 360 miles (580 kilometers) southeast of Kingston, Jamaica. Hurricane Matthews present movement is toward the north-northeast at 7.0 mph (11 kph).
The storm’s track will continue on a north-northwest direction through Sunday, followed by a turn to the north sometime on Monday. The center of the storm will then approach southwestern Haiti and Jamaica on Monday.
Maximum sustained winds remain at 150 mph (240 kph) with higher gusts. Hurricane-force winds extend outward from the center for up to 25 miles (35 kilometers), while tropical-force winds extend outward from the center for 205 miles (335 kilometers). The storm’s minimum central pressure is at 940 mb (27.76 inches).
Hurricane warnings are in effect for Jamaica and Haiti from the southern border with the Dominican Republic to Le Mole St.
Nicholas. The NHC is saying that Matthew is expected to produce rainfall amounts in excess of 10-20 inches over eastern Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and eastern Cuba, with possible isolated maximum amounts of 25 inches.
For Haiti, it may be worse with expected rainfall accumulations of 15 to 25 inches and possibly as much as 40 inches of rainfall in isolated areas. There is a danger of flash flooding and mudslides, along with a combination of dangerous storm surge and large and destructive waves in all the Hurricane watch areas.
A hurricane watch is in effect for Haiti from east of Le Mole St. Nicholas to the northern border with the Dominican Republic, and Cuba from Camaguey province to Guantanamo province. The Bahamas could be added to the Hurricane watch by Sunday.
Matthew is expected to be over eastern Cuba on Tuesday, with a path that could take it over the old city of Santiago de Cuba and the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo. The U.S. Navy announced on Saturday they were evacuating 700 family members of troops and other staff by military cargo plane from Guantanamo Bay to “safe haven” in Pensacola, Florida ahead of the storm, according to the Miami Herald.
The big concern is the economic devastation Matthew is capable of causing in poor countries in its path. “The hurricane will cause an interruption, obviously, in our economic activities here,” Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness told Reuters in an interview on Saturday, saying that “tourism and agriculture could be most affected.”
