The most powerful Caribbean hurricane in nearly a decade has hit Haiti, bringing 230km/h (145mph) winds, heavy rain and dangerous storm surges.
Hurricane Matthew, a Category Four storm, swept over the west of Haiti and is now close to eastern Cuba.

Southern Haiti has effectively been cut off after the bridge linking it to the capital, Port-au-Prince, collapsed.

The deputy mayor of the southern coastal town of Les Cayes described the scene there as "catastrophic".

Marie Claudette Regis Delerme said the city of 70,000 people was flooded and many houses had lost roofs. She herself had to flee a meeting when a gust ripped off the building's roof.

One man too ill to leave his home was killed when waves struck in the town of Port Salut.

Haiti's Interim President Jocelerme Privert said earlier that some people at sea or who had not "respected alerts" had died, but he gave no more details.

Four people died after mudslides and wall collapses in neighbouring Dominican Republic.

Officials said they were trying to restore access to Haiti's southern peninsula after the collapse of the La Digue bridge but admitted it would be difficult to find an alternative route.

Graphic
Haiti is one of the world's poorest countries and many of its 11 million residents live in areas prone to flooding and in flimsy housing. Matthew was expected to bring up to 102cm (40in) of rain to some parts as it moves north at about 15km/h.

Images from Les Cayes showed people walking in water shoulder high, with relief workers saying that other coastal communities were also under water, including Les Anglais.

Fonie Pierre, director of Catholic Relief Services for Les Cayes, told AP: "Many people are now asking for help, but it's too late because there is no way to go evacuate them."

The mayor of Les Cayes, Jean Gabriel Fortune, posted tweets that included video showing damage in the Vernet area.

Little protection: Nick Bryant, BBC News, Fonds-Parisien, Haiti


Haiti has been taking a brutal pounding. The conditions here are atrocious - to step outside is to be drenched within seconds.

Most vulnerable have been those who inhabit the shacks along the western coastline. There, storm surges are the main danger.

People here are confronting life-threatening flooding and the likelihood of mudslides in a landscape denuded of trees.

This Category Four storm comes as this impoverished country is still recovering from the 2010 earthquake which killed more than 200,000 people, and a cholera epidemic that followed.

Many live in shanty towns that offer little protection from the high winds and rains. And many refused to evacuate, fearing that what few possessions they have left would be stolen.

The mayor of Tiburon, Remiza Denize, spoke of large waves hitting the town: "Everyone is trying to find a safe place to protect themselves."

Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, director of the country's Civil Protection Agency, said that there had been a major landslide between Les Cayes and Tiburon.

A farmer in the town of Leogane, Milriste Nelson, said: "All the banana trees, all the mangoes, everything is gone."

Guantanamo Bay evacuation


Haitian officials say that about 1,300 emergency shelters have been built, enough to accommodate 340,000 people. Both airports in Haiti are closed.

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Media captionMatt Taylor looks at where the storm is likely to affect next
Swollen waters in Port-au-PrinceImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionSwollen waters in Port-au-Prince
Map
One local in Port-au-Prince said the community would unite in the face of the storm's danger.

"We are communicating amongst ourselves thanks to our own means. We will tell the people how the situation is. If things are bad then we will come together."

Unicef said more than four million children might be exposed to hurricane damage.

The UN children's fund representative in Haiti, Marc Vincent, said: "Waterborne diseases are the first threat to children in similar situations - our first priority is to make sure children have enough safe water."

People stand on the coast watching the surf produced by Hurricane Matthew, on the outskirts of Kingston, JamaicaImage copyrightAP
Image captionJamaica too has been feeling the effects of Hurricane Matthew
People wait in a shelter ahead of Hurricane Matthew in Guantanamo, CubaImage copyrightAP
Image captionParts of Cuba are also on alert
An NHC statement said: "On the forecast track, the eye of Matthew will move near eastern Cuba later [on Tuesday], and move near or over portions of the south-eastern and central Bahamas [on Tuesday night] and Wednesday, and approach the north-western Bahamas on Wednesday night."

A hurricane alert is in place for six eastern Cuban provinces, with residents moved from low-lying areas.

President Raul Castro addressed people in Santiago de Cuba, saying: "We will immediately face the situation to restore and overcome the damage it causes us."

Some 700 spouses and children of US service members have been flown out of the Guantanamo Bay base, which is just 80km from where the storm could make landfall.

It is also predicted to hit the US east coast later in the week. Florida, South Carolina and parts of North Carolina have declared states of emergency.

South Carolina would start evacuating more than a million people from its coastline on Wednesday, Governor Nikki Haley said.

Hurricane Matthew is the region's most powerful since Felix in 2007.

Hurricane scales

Map showing the world's seven tropical cyclone basins and what the storms that form there are called - 23 October 2015
Category one: sustained winds of 74-95mph (119-153 km/h); some damage and power cuts

Category two: winds of 96-110mph (154-177 km/h); extensive damage

Category three: winds of 111-129mph (178-208 km/h); well-built homes suffer major damage

Category four: winds of 130-156mph (209-251 km/h); severe damage to well-built homes, most trees snapped or uprooted

Category five: winds of 157 mph (252 km/h) or higher; high percentage of homes destroyed, area uninhabitable for weeks or months

BBC