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Hurricane Matthew kills almost 900 in Haiti before hitting U.S.


Cinosural International An Elementry School Jammu

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Oct 08:  Hurricane Matthew killed almost 900 people and displaced tens of thousands in Haiti before plowing northward on Saturday just off the southeast U.S. coast and causing major flooding and widespread power outages.

The number of deaths in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, surged to at least 877 on Friday as information trickled in from remote areas previously cut off by the storm, according to a Reuters tally of death tolls given by officials.

Matthew triggered mass evacuations along the U.S. Atlantic coast from Florida northward through Georgia and into South Carolina and North Carolina. President Barack Obama urged people not to be complacent and to heed safety instructions.

"The potential for storm surge, loss of life and severe property damage exists," Obama told reporters after a briefing with emergency management officials about the fiercest cyclone to affect the United States since Superstorm Sandy four years ago.

Matthew smashed through Haiti's western peninsula on Tuesday with 145 mph (233 kph) winds and torrential rain. Some 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said, after the storm hurled the sea into fragile coastal villages, some of which were only now being contacted.(Inputs from Reuters)

 


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