Hurricane Matthew Lashes the Caribbean

People walk on the road as rain falls during Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti on Oct. 4, 2016.

Hurricane Matthew roared into the southwestern coast of Haiti on Tuesday, threatening a largely rural corner of the impoverished country with devastating storm conditions as it headed north toward Cuba and the eastern coast of Florida.

Two men remove a downed power line to allow vehicles to pass in Petit Goave, Haiti on Oct. 4. Matthew slammed into Haiti's southwestern tip with howling, 145 mph winds Tuesday, tearing off roofs in the poor and largely rural area, uprooting trees and leaving rivers bloated and choked with debris.

Women cover their heads with pans as they walk in a light rain brought by Hurricane Matthew in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Oct. 4.

The dangerous Category 4 storm — at one point the most powerful hurricane in the region in nearly a decade — blew ashore around dawn in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, hitting a corner of Haiti where many people live in shacks of wood or concrete blocks.

Residents walk in flooded streets as they return to their homes in Leogane, Haiti on Oct. 4. Matthew slammed into Haiti's southwestern tip with howling, 145 mph winds Tuesday, tearing off roofs in the poor and largely rural area, uprooting trees and leaving rivers bloated and choked with debris.

The wind blows coconut trees during Hurricane Matthew in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Oct. 4. At least nine deaths were blamed on the storm during its week-long march across the Caribbean.

A woman pushes a wheelbarrow while walking in a partially flooded street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Oct. 4.

People work to remove an uprooted tree from a road in Leogane, Haiti on Oct. 4. Damage in the hardest-hit part of Haiti appeared to be widespread, but because of poor communications, blocked roads and washed-out bridges, the full extent was not immediately clear. Nor was the number of deaths.

Supporters of the Fanmi Lavalas political party splash around in water on a flooded street as they take part in a gathering while Hurricane Matthew passes through Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Oct. 4.

A tap tap (public transportation) crosses a flooded street after Hurricane Matthew in Port-au-Prince on Oct. 4.

A family stays at a shelter at Peru School after their home was damaged during the hurricane in Port-au-Prince on Oct. 4.

A man walks down a flooded street in the Cite Soleil neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Oct. 4.

People walk through a flooded neighborhood in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Oct. 4.

The mother of two deceased children is comforted outside her home in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Oct. 4.

Two boys float in an old wooden box in an area flooded by heavy rains caused by Hurricane Matthew, in La Puya slum, in the Arroyo Hondo creek in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Oct. 4. Matthew roared into the southwestern coast of the island of Hispaniola with devastating storm conditions.

A man cuts branches off fallen trees in a flooded area by a river after Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti on Oct. 5.

Residents work clearing a house destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti on Oct. 5.

Naomi Rivera, 41, shields herself from the rain ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Matthew in Guantanamo, Cuba on Oct. 4.

A woman cries amid the rubble of her home, destroyed by Hurricane Matthew, in Baracoa, Cuba on Oct. 5. The hurricane rolled across the sparsely populated tip of Cuba overnight, destroying dozens of homes in Cuba's easternmost city, Baracoa, leaving hundreds of others damaged.

A Cuban woman collected belongings amdist damage after the hurricane in Baracoa, Cuba on Oct. 5.

A woman walks on a highway blocked by rocks after the Hurricane Matthew passed through the area on the coast of Guantanamo province, Cuba on Oct. 5.

People carry some of their belongings through the rubble of a street after the hurricane in Baracoa, Cuba on Oct. 5.

A man talks on his cell phone while searching for belongings amid the rubble of his home destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, Cuba on Oct. 5.

Partially destroyed banana trees lie along a road after the hurricane on the coast of Guantanamo province, Cuba on Oct. 5.

A couple embrace in the remains of their home that was destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Baracoa, Cuba, on Oct. 5.

People wade through flooded streets next to destroyed houses in Jeremie, Haiti on Oct. 5.

A girl walks on a tree damaged by Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti on Oct. 5.

Children sit inside a church destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Saint-Louis, Haiti on Oct. 5. Rescue workers in Haiti struggled to reach cutoff towns and learn the full extent of the death and destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew as the storm began battering the Bahamas on Wednesday and triggered large-scale evacuations along the U.S. East Coast.

Haitian people cross the river La Digue in Petit Goave where a bridge collapsed during the hurricane.

Children climb on trees destroyed after Hurricane Matthew, in Croix March-a-Terre, Haiti, on Oct. 6.

People dry their clothes on the waterfront in Baracoa, Cuba on Oct. 6.

A street is covered in debris after the hurricane in Baracoa, Cuba on Oct. 6.

People lay their clothes out to dry on a tree broken by the winds of Hurricane Matthew, in Baracoa, Cuba on Oct. 6.

A young woman who was in hospital with a broken leg is carried by two men in a hammock back to her home in Baracoa, Cuba on Oct. 6. The woman who was released from the hospital was carried back to her home by hand because the roads have been made impassible by the damage caused by Hurricane Matthew.

Hurricane Matthew moves through Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas on Oct. 6. The head of the Bahamas National Emergency Management Authority, Capt. Stephen Russell, said there were many downed trees and power lines, but no reports of casualties.

Residents of Grove West walk through flooded streets in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew in Nassau, Bahamas on Oct. 6.

Hotel rooms are exposed after a wall broke away at the RIU hotel at Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas on Oct. 6.

Guests rest in a hallway at the Atlantis Paradise Island hotel, as they stay far away from their rooms' windows during the passage of Hurricane Matthew in Nassau, Bahamas on Oct. 6.