Haitian officials on Thursday dramatically raised the known death toll from Hurricane Matthew as they finally began to reach corners of the country that had been cut off by the rampaging storm. Before hitting Haiti, the storm was blamed for four deaths in the Dominican Republic, one in Colombia and one in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. As recovery efforts in Haiti continued, Matthew pummeled the Bahamian capital of Nassau on Thursday with winds of 140 mph (220 kph). Matthew was on a path forecast to take it close to the U.S. East Coast, where authorities ordered large-scale evacuations. Matthew had dropped slightly to a Category 3 storm after crossing land in Haiti and eastern Cuba, but strengthened once again to a Category 4, officials said.

Source: ABC News October 06, 2016 04:03 UTC