page_title: Effects of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Effects of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Track map of Hurricane Matthew of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season. The points show the location of the storm at 6-hour intervals. The colour represents the storm's maximum sustained wind speeds as classified in the Saffir–Simpson scale (see below), and the shape of the data points represent the nature of the storm, according to the legend below. Saffir–Simpson scale Tropical depression≤38 mph≤62 km/h Category 3111–129 mph178–208 km/h Tropical storm39–73 mph63–118 km/h Category 4130–156 mph209–251 km/h Category 174–95 mph119–153 km/h Category 5≥157 mph≥252 km/h Category 296–110 mph154–177 km/h Unknown Storm type Tropical cyclone Subtropical cyclone Extratropical cyclone / Remnant low / Tropical disturbance / Monsoon depression
context_page_description: Hurricane Matthew struck southwestern Haiti near Les Anglais on October 4, 2016, leaving widespread damage in the impoverished nation. Matthew was a late-season Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale, having formed in the southeastern Caribbean on September 28. The hurricane weakened to Category 4 before making landfall near Les Anglais on October 4, at which time the National Hurricane Center estimated maximum sustained winds of 240 km/h. This made it the strongest storm to hit the nation since Hurricane Cleo in 1964, and the third strongest Haitian landfall on record. Hurricane-force winds – 119 km/h or greater – affected about 1.125 million people in the country. The Haitian government assessed the death toll at 546, although other sources reported more than three times that figure.
  During Matthew's passage, high winds, heavy rainfall, and deadly tides lashed the Tiburon Peninsula in southwest Haiti. Nationwide, the hurricane nearly or completely destroyed around 200,000 homes, leaving 1.4 million people in need of humanitarian aid. Monetary damage was estimated at US$2.8 billion.
context_section_description: Tropical Storm Matthew developed on September 28 from a tropical wave moving through the southern Lesser Antilles. Low wind shear and warm waters favored strengthening, and the storm intensified into a hurricane on September 29. Early on October 1, following a period of rapid deepening, Matthew reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson scale, with peak sustained winds of 270 km/h (165 mph) while north of the Colombia coast. Upwelling of cooler waters subsequently caused Matthew to weaken to a Category 4 hurricane. By October 3, the hurricane was moving northward through the Caribbean around the western periphery of a large ridge, while maintaining Category 4 intensity. On the next day, Matthew re-intensified to attain a minimum central pressure of 934 mbar (27.6 inHg), along with winds of 240 km/h (150 mph) around its well-defined eye. On October 4 at 11:00 UTC, the storm made landfall on the Tiburon Peninsula of southwestern Haiti near Les Anglais at this intensity. Matthew was third strongest on record to hit the country, and the strongest to hit Haiti since Hurricane Cleo in 1964, which also struck as a Category 4.
  Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, was recovering from an ongoing cholera outbreak and a powerful earthquake in 2010, and many houses damaged during the earthquake were not rebuilt when Matthew struck. There were 25 humanitarian organizations working in impoverished Grand'Anse in southwestern Haiti before the storm made landfall. Ahead of the annual hurricane season, the World Food Programme (WFP) had pre-positioned 3,410 tons of food in the form of High Energy Biscuits, 30 tons of which was utilized immediately following the storm. Life-threatening rainfall was forecast to affect much of the nation, with accumulations averaging 38 to 64 cm (15 to 25 in) along the southern coast with isolated peaks up to 100 cm (40 in).
caption: Map plotting the track and the intensity of the storm, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
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