The latest National Hurricane Center projection had Matthew reaching the southwestern tip of Haiti late Monday, but tropical storm conditions could reach Jamaica and Haiti as soon as late Sunday and eastern Cuba early Monday. "This rainfall will produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," the National Weather Service said Sunday. "Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," the hurricane center warned on its Facebook page. A powerful Hurricane Matthew moved slowly Sunday across the Caribbean Sea on... (Associated Press) 
 
 Fishermen move their boats out of the water before the arrival of Hurricane Matthew in Arcahaie, Haiti. As for the United States, "it is too early to determine if Matthew will directly impact the US," the National Weather Service said Sunday. Guantanamo Bay employees evacuated 
 
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 The United States is moving 700 employees and their families from its naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Sunday. 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. In Haiti, families were being urged to stock up on food and water, and evacuations were underway in high-risk areas. She said mandatory evacuation of non-essential personnel was underway, including about 700 family members of military personnel. Forecasters said as much as 40 inches of rain could fall on some isolated areas of Haiti, raising fears of deadly mudslides and floods in the heavily deforested country where many families live in flimsy houses with corrugated metal roofs. Eastern Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and eastern Cuba could see 10 to 20 inches of rain with 25 inches in isolated areas. 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 eye of the approaching Category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph) early Monday, 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 or early Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. Although the official forecast on Sunday showed a track east of Florida, the hurricane center said it was still too soon to rule out possible possible hurricane impacts there — or how Matthew might affect the remainder of the U.S. east coast. In Jamaica, Prime Minister Andrew Holness told Reuters his nation was braced for the storm, which could be the most severe for his nation since Gilbert killed more than 40 Jamaicans and dumped more than 30 inches of rain in some areas in 1988. "There is a big concern for rains there and also a big concern for storm surge." "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.
– Hurricane Matthew became the strongest Atlantic hurricane since 2007's Felix when it briefly became a Category 5 storm Friday—and it is nowhere near finished yet. The storm, now a Category 4, is dumping torrential rain on Jamaica and parts of Cuba and could do its worst damage when it lashes Haiti on Monday evening, the AP reports. CNN reports that as the storm approached, the US evacuated 700 workers and their families from its Guantanamo Bay base to Florida, though essential personnel—and the 61 terror suspects still being held at the Cuba facility—are staying put. The storm is packing winds of more than 130mph and could dump up to 40 inches of rain on parts of Haiti. "This could be catastrophic for some places, particularly Haiti," National Hurricane Center meteorologist Dennis Feltgen tells USA Today. "This is an area where trees just don't exist" due to deforestation, he says. "The terrain is stripped, and the threat of major flash floods and mudslides is very real." The center says that according to the latest forecasts, Matthew will pass to the east of Florida, but it is still too early to say for sure whether it will threaten the state—or hit areas further up the East Coast.