Hurricane Matthew, the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, blasted the Bahamas on Thursday as it headed for the southeastern United States after killing at least 140 people, mostly in Haiti, on its deadly northward march. Matthew, carrying winds off 220km/h, was "relentlessly pounding" the northwestern part of the island chain en route to Florida's Atlantic coast, the US National Hurricane Center said. Florida, Georgia and South Carolina opened shelters for evacuees. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina declared states of emergency, empowering their governors to mobilise the National Guard. The last major hurricane, classified as a storm bearing sustained winds of more than 177km/h to hit the US was Wilma in 2005.

Source: Otago Daily Times October 06, 2016 19:29 UTC