Hurricane Matthew

Hurricane Matthew was a powerful and devastating tropical cyclone which became the first Category 5 Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Felix in 2007. The thirteenth named storm, fifth hurricane and second major hurricane of the active 2016 Atlantic hurricane season, Matthew wrought widespread destruction and catastrophic loss of life during its journey across the Western Atlantic, including parts of Haiti, Cuba, Dominican Republic, the Lucayan Archipelago, the southeastern United States, and the Canadian Maritimes. A total of 603 deaths have been attributed to the storm, including 546 in Haiti, 47 in the United States, 4 in Cuba, 4 in the Dominican Republic, 1 in Colombia, and 1 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, making it the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Stan in 2005, which killed 1,600 in Central Mexico. With the storm causing damages estimated in excess of $15 billion (USD), it was also the costliest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Sandy in 2012, as well as the ninth-costliest Atlantic hurricane in recorded history.

Originating from a tropical wave that emerged off Africa on September 22, Matthew developed into a tropical storm just east of the Lesser Antilles on September 28. It became a hurricane north of Venezuela and Colombia on September 29, before undergoing explosive intensification, ultimately reaching Category 5 intensity on October 1 at just 13.4°N latitude – the lowest latitude ever recorded for a storm of this intensity in the Atlantic basin, breaking a record set by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.^[1] Matthew weakened slightly and fluctuated in intensity while making a northward turn toward the Greater Antilles, remaining a strong Category 4 hurricane as it made its first landfall over Haiti's Tiburon Peninsula early on October 4, and then a second one in Cuba later that day. Matthew weakened somewhat but re-intensified as it tracked northwest, making landfall in the northern Bahamas. The storm then paralleled the coast of the southeastern United States over the next 36 hours, gradually weakening while remaining just offshore before making its fourth and final landfall over the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane on the morning of October 8. Matthew re-emerged into the Atlantic shortly afterward, eventually completing its transition into an extratropical cyclone as it turned away from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina on October 9.^[2]

Widespread effects were felt from Matthew across its destructive path, however, the most significant impacts were felt in Haiti, with US$1.9 billion in damage and 546 deaths. The combination of flooding and high winds disrupted telecommunications and destroyed extensive swaths of land; around 80% of Jérémie sustained significant damage. Four people were killed in Cuba due to a bridge collapse, and total losses in the country amounted to US$2.58 billion, most of which occurred in the Guantánamo Province. Passing through the Bahamas as a major hurricane, Matthew spread damage across several islands, compounding relief efforts from Hurricane Joaquin which had pounded similar areas just the previous year. Grand Bahama was hit directly, where most homes sustained damage in the townships of Eight Mile Rock and Holmes Rock. Preparations began in earnest across the southeastern United States as Matthew approached, with several states declaring states of emergencies for either entire states or coastal counties; widespread evacuations were ordered for extensive areas of the coast because of predicted high wind speeds and flooding, especially in the Jacksonville Metropolitan Area. In Florida, over 1 million lost power as the storm passed to the east, with 478,000 losing power in Georgia and South Carolina. While damage was primarily confined to the coast in the Florida and Georgia, torrential rains spread inland in the Carolinas and Virginia, causing widespread flooding.