The death toll from Hurricane Matthew, which swept through several Caribbean nations this week, has reportedly topped 300 as the south coast of the US braces for the Category Four storm’s impact.
Thousands have been displaced from their homes in nations such as Haiti, where the majority of the deaths were recorded as what has been described as the fiercest storm in a decade caused widespread damage to property and infrastructure.
In the US, millions of people have evacuated in states including Florida, Georgia and South Carolina ahead of the storm amid dire warnings from authorities about the impact it could have with winds of more than 200 kph expected.
In Haiti, which is still recovering after a devastating 2010 earthquake in which some 200,000 people were killed, authorities have warned that the damage from the storm could worsen a cholera outbreak which has killed more than 9,000 over the past six years. Rescue workers are still reportedly attempting to reach some areas of the nation, cut off by the impacts of the storm.
Other nations affected by the hurricane in the Caribbean have included the neighbouring Dominican Republic and Cuba.
