The center of Matthew, a violent Category 4 storm, is expected to close in on southwestern Haiti on Monday night, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. It has veered from Jamaica but the slow-moving cyclone is still forecast to bring gale-force winds and dump hazardous amounts of rain on the island.

Crawling north at just 6 miles per hour, the storm threatens to linger enough for its winds and rain to cause great damage, especially over Haiti where deforestation exacerbates flooding and mudslides.

A combination of weak government and precarious living conditions make the country particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. More than 200,000 people were killed when a magnitude 7 earthquake struck in 2010.

"We are worried about the slow pace of Hurricane Matthew," said Ronald Semelfort, director of Haiti's national meteorology center.

"Even in normal times, when we have rain we have flooding that sometimes kills people," said Semelfort, comparing Matthew to 1963's Hurricane Flora, which swept away entire villages and killed thousands in Haiti.

Matthew was about 205 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, at 11 a.m. EDT Monday, the NHC said. It is expected to bring between 15 and 40 inches of rain to parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, setting off potentially fatal flash floods and landslides, the NHC said.

The storm comes at a bad time for Haiti. The poorest country in the Americas is set to hold a long-delayed presidential election next Sunday.

On Monday, Frederic Hislain, mayor of the country's largest slum, the oceanside Cite Soleil in Port-au-Prince, called on the government to evacuate 150,000 people whose homes he said were threatened.

In Jamaica, dawn broke on Monday to reveal partially blue skies and only a slight breeze, making it harder for officials to convince some of the vulnerable to evacuate.

Nonetheless, many residents had already boarded up windows and flocked to supermarkets to stock up on food, water, flashlights and beer. In both Jamaica and Haiti, authorities shut the main airports to wait for the storm to pass.

Charles Bernimolin, the team leader of a U.N. Disaster Assessment and Coordination delegation that had flown into Kingston, remained worried, despite projections that showed the storm sparing Jamaica the worst of its fury.

"We are always concerned. The track is not important," he said. "The important thing is that it is moving very, very slowly and is very big.

"If I were Jamaican, I would take a Category 5 storm that moves very quickly, rather than this. The quantity of water, the landslides - the people will lose everything."

In Cuba, which Matthew is due to reach on Tuesday, evacuation operations were well underway, with most tourists in the eastern town of Santiago de Cuba moved inland and given instructions on where to shelter in hotels during the hurricane.

Although many people had voluntarily shifted their belongings into neighbors' houses, with some even hunkering down in cliff-side caves they said were safe, the sun was shining on Monday morning, and some locals chose to fish in the port area.

"I won't take shelter until the wind picks up some more," said Erixan Cuevas, 40, a security guard who was fishing with friends at Santiago's port. "We are pretty worried."

Cuban President Raul Castro visited the Cuban military perimeter of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo on Sunday even as non-essential U.S. personnel were being evacuated in preparation for Matthew, which is forecast to pass directly over the area claimed by both countries for decades.

Castro said he reviewed plans to shelter soldiers and protect weapons.

In Haiti, streets were already flooded in coastal Les Cayes, a town of about 70,000 people that lies in the Matthew's projected path.

Haitian officials said about 2,000 residents of the La Savane neighborhood of Les Cayes refused to heed government calls to leave their seaside homes and only a few families had yet opted to move to a high school in La Savane, designated as a shelter for up to 600 people. On Sunday night it was without electricity and lit only by candlelight.

On Monday morning, most people in Les Cayes were still at home, just feet away from the sea. Closer to the town center, many were out and about.

Poor Haitians are at times reluctant to leave their homes in the face of impending storms, fearing their belongings will be stolen.

The chief of police for the southern region, Luc Pierre, said it was almost impossible to evacuate such a large number of people against their will.

The U.S. Agency for International Development said it deployed two disaster response teams to Haiti and Jamaica to coordinate relief efforts, if requested.</s>PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – An extremely dangerous Hurricane Matthew moved slowly over the Caribbean on Sunday, following a track that authorities warned could trigger devastating floods in parts of Haiti.

The powerful Category 4 hurricane had winds of 145 mph on Sunday evening. Its center was expected to pass to the east of Jamaica and then cross over or be close to the southwestern tip of Haiti tonight before reaching Cuba on Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Forecasters said the southern Haitian countryside around Jeremie and Les Cayes could see the worst of the rains and punishing winds.

Dozens of people were crushed to death Sunday in a stampede in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse an anti-government protest that grew out of a massive religious festival, witnesses said.

The Oromia regional government confirmed the death toll at 52. The stampede occurred in one of the East African country’s most politically sensitive regions, which has seen months of sometimes deadly demonstrations demanding wider freedoms.

A millionaire businessman who used to tell people “You are fired!” as host of a reality TV show won the mayoral race in Brazil’s biggest city Sunday, underscoring voters’ myriad beefs with traditional politicians.

Joao Doria, the former host of “The Apprentice Brazil,” won with 53 percent of vote in Sao Paulo after campaigning on the slogan “I’m not a politician, I’m a businessman.”

He beat a crowded field that included incumbent Fernando Haddad, a key member of the Workers’ Party.</s>The US government announced that it will provide $400,000 in aid to Haiti and Jamaica before Hurricane Matthew hits.

Two fishermen have been killed by rough water conditions ahead of Hurricane Matthew's arrival in Haiti. The Caribbean is currently embracing for the potentially disastrous Category 4 hurricane, which is now responsible for four deaths in the last week. One death was also reported in Colombia and another in St Vincent.

The government previously banned boating in Haiti on Saturday but that didn’t stop some fisherman from hitting the coast to provide for their loved ones.

"They feel they have to take risks to support their families," Johnny Souffrant told the media on Monday.

Matthew is packing 140 mph winds and, according to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami, is expected to bring life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.

The storm is also projected to pass through Jamaica and Haiti on Tuesday before heading to Cuba.

Officials said the hurricane may be the first category 3 storm or above to hit the states in nearly a decade.

More than 700 people packed into shelters in Jamaica and nearly 200 packed into shelters in Kingston. Authorities also evacuated nearly 700 family members of the military at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay.

"We are looking at a dangerous hurricane that is heading into the vicinity of western Haiti and eastern Cuba," Richard Pasch, a hurricane specialist at the center, told The Associated Press.

"People who are impacted by things like flooding and mudslides hopefully would get out and relocate because that's where we have seen the loss of life in the past."</s>Matthew, a violent Category 4 storm packing 145 mile-per-hour (230 kph) winds, is due to pound the western tip of Haiti in the early hours of Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Already, late on Monday, the outer bands of the cyclone reached the area, flooding dozens of houses in the town of Les Anglais when the ocean rose, the local mayor said. In the town of Les Cayes on the southern coast, the wind bent trees and the power went out.

"We have gusts of wind hitting the whole area and the people have fled to a shelter," said Les Anglais mayor Jean-Claude Despierre. In Tiburon, another town nearby, the mayor said people who had been reluctant to leave their homes also fled when the sea rose.

"Everyone is trying to find a safe place to protect themselves, the situation is very difficult," mayor Remiza Denize said, describing large waves hitting the town.

The storm is forecast to spread hurricane force winds and up to three feet of rain across denuded hills prone to flash floods and mudslides, threatening villages as well as shanty towns in the capital Port-au-Prince.

"This is the most vulnerable suburb in the area. Here people are going about organizing things, we know that the hurricane is coming," said Afou, a volunteer at a children's home made of tin sheeting on the rubbish-strewn seashore of Haiti's Cite Soleil slum in the capital.

"If things are bad then we will come together," said Afou, who only gave his first name. Later, civil protection authorities said 130 children were evacuated by bus from another orphanage in the slum to a high school in the capital.

The Mayor of Cite Soleil, Frederic Hislain, said 150,000 people whose homes were threatened needed to be bused to safer places, but accepted that many people would not want to leave. Poor Haitians are often loath to leave home in the face of storms, fearing their few belongings will be stolen.

The cyclone comes at a bad time for Haiti, where tens of thousands of people still live in tents after a 2010 earthquake that killed upwards of 200,000 people. Cholera introduced by U.N. peacekeepers is expected to rise in the October rainy season, and the country was due to hold a long-delayed presidential election in five days time.

The office of Interim President Jocelerme Privert said there was no change to the election date.

On the north coast, some 300 detainees were transferred from their prison near the sea in the town of Jeremie, the interior ministry said.

Matthew is forecast to sweep over Cuba to the Bahamas on Tuesday and possibly reach Florida by Thursday as a major hurricane, though weaker than at present. Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for Florida on Monday, designating resources for evacuations and shelters and putting the National Guard on standby.

One of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent history, it was about 100 miles (155 km) south of westernmost Haiti at 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT) on Monday, the U.S. hurricane center said.

Crawling north at about 7 miles-per-hour (11 kph), the storm threatens to linger long enough for its winds and rain to cause great damage.

In Les Cayes about 150 people huddled without electricity or food in the town's largest shelter, a school.

"There is no food," said Erick Cange, 69 years old, a resident of the La Savanne neighborhood surrounding the school.

"Since yesterday we've had nothing ... We must sleep on the floor ... Everyone is hungry."

The conditions in the shelter compared unfavorably with Haiti's neighbor Cuba, where authorities spent days organizing teams of volunteers to move residents to safety and secure property.

The storm is expected to make a direct hit later on Tuesday in the province of Guantanamo, the disputed home to a U.S. Naval base and military prison but also a small Cuban city.

"We are receiving people living in villages prone to flooding," said Alexis Iglesias, head of the evacuation committee at Guantanamo University which was being used as shelter.

"Food is guaranteed and we have a generator that will guarantee that the kitchen keeps on working in case of a power cut," he said, at the shelter, where some 400 people were staying.

The U.S. Agency for International Development said on Monday it was providing a combined $400,000 in aid to Haiti and Jamaica. The agency said in a statement it had pre-positioned relief supplies and was preparing to ship in additional supplies to the central Caribbean.</s>LES CAYES/PORT-AU-PRINCE - Hurricane Matthew edged closer to Haiti on Monday, bringing 130-mile-per-hour winds and torrential rain that could wreak havoc in the Caribbean nation, but some 2,000 people in one coastal town refused to evacuate.

The center of Matthew, a violent Category 4 storm, is expected to near southwestern Haiti and Jamaica on Monday night, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Crawling north toward Haiti's Les Cayes, Jamaica and Cuba at 6 miles per hour, the storm could be just as slow leaving, giving its winds and rain more time to cause damage.

"We are worried about the slow pace of Hurricane Matthew, which will expose Haiti to much more rain, and the country is particularly vulnerable to flooding," said Ronald Semelfort, director of Haiti's national meteorology center.

The storm comes at a bad time for Haiti. The poorest country in the Americas is set to hold a long-delayed presidential election next Sunday.

A combination of weak government and precarious living conditions make the country particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. More than 200,000 people were killed when a magnitude 7 earthquake struck in 2010.

"Even in normal times, when we have rain we have flooding that sometimes kills people," said Semelfort, comparing Matthew to 1963's Hurricane Flora, which swept away entire villages and killed thousands in Haiti.

Matthew is expected to produce between 15 to 40 inches (38 to 101 cm) of rain in parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, forming potentially fatal flash floods and landslides, the NHC said.

In Jamaica, dawn broke on Monday to reveal partially blue skies and only a slight breeze, making it harder for officials to convince some of the vulnerable to evacuate.

Nonetheless, many residents had already boarded up windows and flocked to supermarkets to stock up on food, water, flashlights and beer.

Charles Bernimolin, the team leader of a U.N. Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) delegation that had flown into Kingston, remained worried, despite projections that showed the storm sparing Jamaica the worst of its fury.

"We are always concerned. The track is not important," he said. "The important thing is that it is moving very, very slowly and is very big.

"If I were Jamaican, I would take a Category 5 storm that moves very quickly, rather than this. The quantity of water, the landslides - the people will lose everything."

In Cuba, which Matthew is due to reach on Tuesday, evacuation operations were well underway, with most tourists in the eastern town of Santiago de Cuba moved inland and given instructions on where to shelter in hotels during the hurricane.

Although many people had voluntarily shifted their belongings into neighbors' houses, with some even hunkering down in cliff-side caves they said were safe, the sun was shining on Monday morning, and some locals chose to fish in the port area.

"I won't take shelter until the wind picks up some more," said Erixan Cuevas, 40, a security guard who was fishing with friends at Santiago's port. "We are pretty worried."

Matthew was about 220 miles southeast of Kingston at 8 a.m. EDT Monday and moving north toward Haiti, the NHC said.

In Haiti, some streets were already flooded in Les Cayes, a town of about 70,000 people. But Haitian officials said about 2,000 residents of the La Savane neighborhood of Les Cayes refused to heed government calls to leave their seaside homes, even though they were just a few miles from where the center of the hurricane is forecast to make landfall.

Early on Monday morning, most people in Les Cayes were still at home, just feet away from the sea. But closer to the town center, many were out and about, even though schools were closed on Monday and Tuesday.

Poor Haitians are at times reluctant to leave their homes in the face of impending storms, fearing their belongings will be stolen.

The chief of police for the southern region, Luc Pierre, said it was almost impossible to evacuate such a large number of people.

"I would have to arrest all those people and take them to a safe place. This is very difficult," he said, adding that the power had already gone off in the town.

Only a few families had opted to move to a high school in La Savane, designated as a shelter for up to 600 people. On Sunday night it was without electricity and lit only by candlelight.

"There are babies crying here; there is nothing at all," said Nadja, 32, who was pregnant with her fourth child.</s>As Category 4 Hurricane Matthew's eye passes over Les Cayes, Haiti. this morning, the storm remains a churning behemoth. Winds topping 140 miles per hour have been reported in Haiti's westernmost tip, while up to three feet of rain pours onto mountain villages in the nearby hillsides. Across the border in the Dominican Republic, the dirty side of the cane has spawned tornadoes and vicious windstorms.

As the Caribbean hunkers down for the storm to pass, the threat to the Sunshine State is still strong this morning. In its latest update, NOAA's Hurricane Center says parts of Florida's east coast and the Keys are likely to come under official watches soon.

"Tropical storm and/or hurricane watches are likely for portions of the Florida peninsula and Florida Keys later this morning," NOAA reports as of 5 a.m.

Storm model tracks are still mostly in agreement with yesterday's westward shift for the storm. NOAA's latest forecast calls for the storm to veer toward Florida by Thursday:

Of course, three days out forecasts are still far from certain in terms of where the storm will hit and how strong it will be by then. Unlike many hurricanes that hit Cuba and Hispaniola, Matthew looks likely to mostly avoid the mountain ranges on those islands. That means it should stay strong as it barrels over the flat Bahamas.

"Matthew poses an unusually widespread threat to the U.S. East Coast, with impacts possible from Florida to Maine," write Bob Henson and Jeff Masters at Weather Underground.

Today, though, all eyes are on Haiti, where it's been almost a decade since a storm this strong crossed the island nation. Video shot early this morning as the eye approached showed a violent tempest:</s>PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — An extremely dangerous Hurricane Matthew moved slowly over the Caribbean on Sunday, following a track that authorities warned could trigger devastating floods in parts of Haiti.

The powerful Category 4 hurricane had winds of 145 mph on Sunday evening. Its center was expected to pass to the east of Jamaica and then cross over or be very close to the southwestern tip of Haiti late Monday before reaching Cuba on Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti. Rain was already falling on Jamaica, but forecasters said the southern Haitian countryside around Jeremie and Les Cayes could see the worst of the rains and punishing winds.

“Wherever that center passes close to would see the worst winds and that’s what’s projected to happen for the western tip of Haiti,” said John Cangilosi, a hurricane specialist at the U.S. center. “There is a big concern for rains there and also a big concern for storm surge.”

Matthew is one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent history and briefly reached the top classification, Category 5, becoming the strongest hurricane in the region since Felix in 2007. The hurricane center said the storm appeared to be on track to pass east of Florida through the Bahamas, but it was too soon to predict with certainty whether it would reach the U.S. coast.

Officials with Haiti’s civil protection agency said there were roughly 1,300 emergency shelters across the country, enough to hold up to 340,000 people. Authorities broadcast warnings over the radio telling people to swiftly heed evacuation warnings, trying to counter a common tendency for people to try to stay in their homes to protect them during natural disasters.

In a Sunday address carried on state radio, interim President Jocelerme Privert urged Haitians to listen closely to the warnings of officials and be ready to move. “To those people living in houses that could collapse, it’s necessary that you leave these houses to take refuge in schools and churches,” he said.

Teams of civil protection officials walked the streets of Les Cayes and other areas urging residents to secure their homes, prepare emergency kits and warn their neighbors. They also evacuated people from some outlying islands. Many Haitians appeared unaware of the looming hurricane.

“No, I haven’t heard anything about a bad storm coming here,” farmer Jean-Bernard Mede said with a concerned expression as he took a break from walking three cows along a dirt track outside the flood-prone town of Leogane. “I’ll do what I can for my animals and my family.”

Forecasters said the slow-moving hurricane was expected to dump 15 to 25 inches of rain over southern Haiti, with a few places getting as much as 40 inches.

The impoverished country is particularly vulnerable to devastating floods because of the steep terrain, with hillsides and mountains often devoid of trees that hold back water because they have been cut down to make charcoal for cooking fires. Many Haitians live in flimsy houses that are not able to withstand a serious storm, typically built of scraps of wood with corrugated metal roofs.

A hurricane watch was posted for the southeastern Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands. A tropical storm warning was in effect for parts of the Dominican Republic, where authorities began mandatory evacuations of areas at risk for flooding.

The hurricane earlier had been projected to be closer to Jamaica, but still was a danger to the island.

“The center of the system is looking more likely that it will pass to the east of Jamaica but it won’t miss it by that much, so they are still going to see impacts,” Cangilosi said. “The impacts are maybe going to be a little lower there than they would be in Haiti and eastern Cuba.”

After passing Jamaica and Haiti, Matthew was projected to reach Cuba. The center was expected to pass about 50 miles east of the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, where authorities evacuated about 700 spouses and children of service members on military transport planes to Florida.

The U.S. installation has a population of about 5,500, including 61 men held at the detention center for terrorism suspects. Navy Capt. David Culpepper, the base commander, said emergency shelters had been set up and authorities were bracing for 80 mph winds and storm surge and heavy rain that could threaten some low-lying areas, including around the power plant and water desalination facility.

“We have no choice but to prepare ourselves for to take a frontal assault if you will,” Culpepper said.

Cuban President Raul Castro traveled to the eastern city of Santiago to oversee preparations for Matthew’s arrival.

A report on state television showed the 85-year-old leader discussing the hurricane’s path with ministers and saying: “This is a hurricane we need to prepare for as if it were twice as powerful as Sandy,” the 2012 hurricane that devastated much of Cuba’s second-largest city.

Hundreds of Cuban soldiers were moving in convoys around the city and state workers with chain saws cut tree limbs overhanging power lines and homes. Trains from Havana to eastern Cuba were cancelled and the government called on residents of eastern Cuba to move livestock to high ground, tape up their windows and store potable water ahead of the hurricane’s arrival.</s>Matthew, a violent Category 4 storm packing 145 mile-per-hour (230 kph) winds, is due to pound the western tip of Haiti in the early hours of Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Already, late on Monday, the outer bands of the cyclone reached the area, flooding dozens of houses in the town of Les Anglais when the ocean rose, the local mayor said. In the town of Les Cayes on the southern coast, the wind bent trees and the power went out.

"We have gusts of wind hitting the whole area and the people have fled to a shelter," said Les Anglais mayor Jean-Claude Despierre. In Tiburon, another town nearby, the mayor said people who had been reluctant to leave their homes also fled when the sea rose.

"Everyone is trying to find a safe place to protect themselves, the situation is very difficult," mayor Remiza Denize said, describing large waves hitting the town.

The storm is forecast to spread hurricane force winds and up to three feet of rain across denuded hills prone to flash floods and mudslides, threatening villages as well as shanty towns in the capital Port-au-Prince.

"This is the most vulnerable suburb in the area. Here people are going about organizing things, we know that the hurricane is coming," said Afou, a volunteer at a children's home made of tin sheeting on the rubbish-strewn seashore of Haiti's Cite Soleil slum in the capital.

"If things are bad then we will come together," said Afou, who only gave his first name. Later, civil protection authorities said 130 children were evacuated by bus from another orphanage in the slum to a high school in the capital.

The Mayor of Cite Soleil, Frederic Hislain, said 150,000 people whose homes were threatened needed to be bused to safer places, but accepted that many people would not want to leave. Poor Haitians are often loath to leave home in the face of storms, fearing their few belongings will be stolen.

The cyclone comes at a bad time for Haiti, where tens of thousands of people still live in tents after a 2010 earthquake that killed upwards of 200,000 people. Cholera introduced by U.N. peacekeepers is expected to rise in the October rainy season, and the country was due to hold a long-delayed presidential election in five days time.

The office of Interim President Jocelerme Privert said there was no change to the election date.

On the north coast, some 300 detainees were transferred from their prison near the sea in the town of Jeremie, the interior ministry said.

Matthew is forecast to sweep over Cuba to the Bahamas on Tuesday and possibly reach Florida by Thursday as a major hurricane, though weaker than at present. Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for Florida on Monday, designating resources for evacuations and shelters and putting the National Guard on standby.

One of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent history, it was about 100 miles (155 km) south of westernmost Haiti at 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT) on Monday, the U.S. hurricane center said.

Crawling north at about 7 miles-per-hour (11 kph), the storm threatens to linger long enough for its winds and rain to cause great damage.

In Les Cayes about 150 people huddled without electricity or food in the town's largest shelter, a school.

"There is no food," said Erick Cange, 69 years old, a resident of the La Savanne neighborhood surrounding the school.

"Since yesterday we've had nothing ... We must sleep on the floor ... Everyone is hungry."

The conditions in the shelter compared unfavorably with Haiti's neighbor Cuba, where authorities spent days organizing teams of volunteers to move residents to safety and secure property.

The storm is expected to make a direct hit later on Tuesday in the province of Guantanamo, the disputed home to a U.S. Naval base and military prison but also a small Cuban city.

"We are receiving people living in villages prone to flooding," said Alexis Iglesias, head of the evacuation committee at Guantanamo University which was being used as shelter.

"Food is guaranteed and we have a generator that will guarantee that the kitchen keeps on working in case of a power cut," he said, at the shelter, where some 400 people were staying.

The U.S. Agency for International Development said on Monday it was providing a combined $400,000 in aid to Haiti and Jamaica. The agency said in a statement it had pre-positioned relief supplies and was preparing to ship in additional supplies to the central Caribbean.</s>Matthew, a violent Category 4 storm packing 145 mile-per-hour (230 kph) winds, is due to pound the western tip of Haiti in the early hours of Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Already, late on Monday, the outer bands of the cyclone reached the area, flooding dozens of houses in the town of Les Anglais when the ocean rose, the local mayor said. In the town of Les Cayes on the southern coast, the wind bent trees and the power went out.

"We have gusts of wind hitting the whole area and the people have fled to a shelter," said Les Anglais mayor Jean-Claude Despierre. In Tiburon, another town nearby, the mayor said people who had been reluctant to leave their homes also fled when the sea rose.

"Everyone is trying to find a safe place to protect themselves, the situation is very difficult," mayor Remiza Denize said, describing large waves hitting the town.

The storm is forecast to spread hurricane force winds and up to three feet of rain across denuded hills prone to flash floods and mudslides, threatening villages as well as shanty towns in the capital Port-au-Prince.

"This is the most vulnerable suburb in the area. Here people are going about organizing things, we know that the hurricane is coming," said Afou, a volunteer at a children's home made of tin sheeting on the rubbish-strewn seashore of Haiti's Cite Soleil slum in the capital.

"If things are bad then we will come together," said Afou, who only gave his first name. Later, civil protection authorities said 130 children were evacuated by bus from another orphanage in the slum to a high school in the capital.

The Mayor of Cite Soleil, Frederic Hislain, said 150,000 people whose homes were threatened needed to be bused to safer places, but accepted that many people would not want to leave. Poor Haitians are often loathe to leave home in the face of storms, fearing their few belongings will be stolen.

The cyclone comes at a bad time for Haiti, where tens of thousands of people still live in tents after a 2010 earthquake that killed upwards of 200,000 people. Cholera introduced by U.N. peacekeepers is expected to rise in the October rainy season, and the country was due to hold a long-delayed presidential election in five days time.

The office of Interim President Jocelerme Privert said there was no change to the election date.

On the north coast, some 300 detainees were transferred from their prison near the sea in the town of Jeremie, the interior ministry said.

Matthew is forecast to sweep over Cuba to the Bahamas on Tuesday and possibly reach Florida by Thursday as a major hurricane, though weaker than at present.

One of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent history, it was about 100 miles (155 km) south of westernmost Haiti at 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT) on Monday, the U.S. hurricane center said.

Crawling north at about 7 miles-per-hour (11 kph), the storm threatens to linger long enough for its winds and rain to cause great damage.

In Les Cayes about 150 people huddled without electricity or food in the town's largest shelter, a school.

"There is no food," said Erick Cange, 69 years old, a resident of the La Savanne neighborhood surrounding the school.

"Since yesterday we've had nothing…We must sleep on the floor…Everyone is hungry."

The conditions in the shelter compared unfavorably with Haiti's neighbor Cuba, where authorities spent days organizing teams of volunteers to move residents to safety and secure property.

The storm is expected to make a direct hit later on Tuesday in the province of Guantanamo, the disputed home to a U.S. Naval base and military prison but also a small Cuban city.

"We are receiving people living in villages prone to flooding," said Alexis Iglesias, head of the evacuation committee at Guantanamo University which was being used as shelter.

"Food is guaranteed and we have a generator that will guarantee that the kitchen keeps on working in case of a power cut," he said, at the shelter, where some 400 people were staying.</s>PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Tuesday October 4, 2016 – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has activated its emergency response plan as the Atlantic’s strongest storm in years takes aim at Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

UNICEF estimates that six million children are in the path of the storm in those countries and said its disaster response plan will ensure rapid lifesaving action for children and families where needed.

It said that as the full impact of Hurricane Matthew becomes clear in the next hours, it is prepared to take immediate emergency response measures in coordination with governments and other partners.

“This is an extremely dangerous storm and represents a great risk for the most vulnerable children of the countries in its path. Sadly, there will be many children that tomorrow won’t have access to clean water, shelter, schools and the protection they have today,” said Maria Cristina Perceval, regional director for UNICEF Latin America and the Caribbean.

Officials of UNICEF Latin America and the Caribbean as well as in the potentially-affected country offices have been working around the clock in advance of the storm, monitoring its path and coordinating with emergency and disaster risk reduction staff in the event families and children require aid.

UNICEF said it’s prepared to respond at scale and has been coordinating closely with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).

“Pre-positioned essential supplies are ready to be deployed from local warehouses and from the largest humanitarian warehouse in the world, UNICEF’s Supply Division in Copenhagen,” it said.

IMAGE: UNICEF has been working for children in Jamaica for almost 40 years. (Photo credit: UNICEF/UNI33046/Alsbirk)

For more on this story go to: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/6-million-children-hurricane-matthews-dangerous-path#ixzz4M8CHYHDS
Heavy rains from Hurricane Matthew's outer bands drench Haiti and Jamaica, killing a Haitian fisherman. The Category 4 storm, with 140 mph ((220 km/h) maximum sustained winds), is heading towards western Haiti, eastern Cuba, and the southeastern and central Bahamas.