File:Hurricane Matthew (MODIS 2016-10-05).jpg

English: On October 4, 2016, Hurricane Matthew made landfall on southwestern Haiti as a Category 4 storm—the strongest storm to hit the Caribbean nation in more than 50 years. Just hours after landfall, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image. At the time, Matthew had top sustained winds of about 230 kilometers (145 miles) per hour.

Earlier on October 4, temperature data collected by MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite revealed that the cloud tops around Matthew were very cold (at least -57° Celsius, or -70° Fahrenheit). Cold cloud tops are known to produce heavy rainfall. The National Hurricane Center called for 380 to 500 millimeters (15 to 20 inches) of rain in Southern Haiti and in the southwestern Dominican Republic.

The northward movement of the storm should bring the center of Matthew over eastern Cuba late on October 4. Dangerous conditions can extend far beyond a storm’s center. According to National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasters, Matthew is “likely to produce devastating impacts from storm surge, extreme winds, heavy rains, flash floods, and/or mudslides in portions of the watch and warning areas in Haiti, Cuba, and the Bahamas.”

According to The New York Times, the number of people injured and killed in Haiti had not yet been confirmed. Hundreds of homes were reportedly lost, as well as livestock and crops. The Associated Press quoted Fidele Nicolas, a civil protection official in Haiti, as saying the storm had destroyed schools, roads, and other structures. Early videos and reports suggest serious damage has occurred in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, but assessments of damages are hampered by downed communication lines.