Jamaicans are accustomed to intense tropical weather but Hurricane Matthew looked particularly threatening. At its peak, it was more powerful than Hurricane Gilbert, which made landfall on the island in September 1988 and was the most destructive storm in the country’s modern history.
“Hurricane Matthew could rival or possibly exceed Gilbert if the core of the strongest winds does actually move over Jamaica,” said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the hurricane center in Miami. “There is no certainty of that at this point.”
Forecasters said rainfall totals could reach 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 centimeters) with isolated maximum amounts of 25 inches (63 centimeters) in Jamaica and southwestern Haiti.
Kingston, in the southeastern corner of Jamaica, is expected to experience flooding. The government issued a hurricane watch on Friday, and a tropical storm watch was issued for Haiti’s southwest coast form the southern border it shares with the Dominican Republic to the capital of Port-au-Prince.
In Haiti, civil protection officials broadcast warnings of a coming storm surge and big waves, saying the country would be “highly threatened” from the approaching system over the next 72 hours. They urged families to prepare emergency food and water kits.
Emergency management authorities banned boating starting Saturday, particularly along the impoverished country’s southern coastline, but numerous fishing skiffs could still be seen off the south coast.
As of 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), the storm was centered about 390 miles (625 kilometers) southeast of Kingston. It was moving west at 6 mph (9 kph).
Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 45 miles (75 kilometers) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 205 miles (335 kilometers).
Matthew caused at least one death when it entered the Caribbean on Wednesday. Officials in St. Vincent reported a 16-year-old boy was crushed by a boulder as he tried to clear a blocked drain.
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Associated Press writers Ben Fox in Miami, Joshua Goodman in Bogota, Colombia, and David McFadden in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, contributed to this report.
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