<P> 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 Florida and Georgia, torrential rains spread inland in the Carolinas and Virginia, causing widespread flooding . </P> <P> A vigorous tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on September 22 and moved rapidly across the Atlantic, being monitored by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) for possible tropical cyclogenesis . Despite possessing tropical - storm winds as it approached the Lesser Antilles on September 27, the wave could not initially be classified as a tropical cyclone, as reconnaissance aircraft could not find a closed center . However, by 12: 00 UTC on September 28, the wave developed a closed circulation while located near Barbados, hence becoming a tropical storm, and was assigned the name Matthew . Continuing westward under the influence of a mid-level ridge, the storm steadily intensified to attain hurricane intensity by 18: 00 UTC on September 29 . The effects of southwesterly wind shear unexpectedly abated late that day, and Matthew began a period of explosive intensification; during a 24 - hour period beginning at 00: 00 UTC on September 30, the cyclone's maximum winds more than doubled, from 80 mph (130 km / h) to 165 mph (270 km / h), making Matthew a Category 5 hurricane, the first since Hurricane Felix in 2007; the rate of intensification has only been exceeded a few times in the Atlantic since records began . Due to upwelling of cooler waters, Matthew weakened to a Category 4 hurricane later on October 1, before attaining a secondary peak intensity with winds of 155 mph (250 km / h) late on October 2 . </P> <P> Slowly rounding the ridge, Matthew fluctuated in intensity within the Category 4 range from October 1--5 . Intensification resumed again late on October 3 and culminated when Matthew made landfall near Les Anglais, Haiti, around 11: 00 UTC on October 4 with winds of 150 mph (240 km / h) and a pressure of 934 millibars (27.6 inHg), making it the strongest to hit Haiti since Hurricane Cleo in 1964 . Continuing northward, the hurricane struck Maisí in Cuba early on October 5 as a slightly weaker storm . Cuba's and Haiti's mountainous terrain weakened Matthew to Category 3 status, as it began to accelerate northwestwards through the Bahamas . Restrengthening occurred as Matthew's circulation became better organized, with the storm becoming a Category 4 hurricane again while passing Freeport . However, Matthew began to weaken again as an eyewall replacement cycle took place . The storm significantly weakened while closely paralleling the coasts of Florida and Georgia, with the northwestern portion of the outer eyewall coming ashore in Florida while the system was a Category 3 hurricane (with the strongest winds remaining just offshore). Matthew weakened to a Category 2 hurricane late on October 7 and then to a Category 1 hurricane by 12: 00 UTC on October 8 . </P> <P> Around 15: 00 UTC on October 8, the hurricane made landfall at Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, near McClellanville, South Carolina, with winds of 85 mph (140 km / h) and a central pressure of 963 mbar (28.4 inHg), which made it the strongest to strike the United States in terms of pressure since Hurricane Isaac in 2012, and the first hurricane to make landfall north of Florida in October since Hurricane Hazel in 1954 . Convection became displaced from the center as Matthew pulled away from land due to increasing wind shear, with the NHC declaring the system an extratropical cyclone about 200 mi (320 km) east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, on October 9 . The remnants persisted for another day before they were absorbed by a cold front . </P>

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