Hurricane Matthew is currently a powerful tropical cyclone over the Atlantic Ocean.

It
was the firstCategory 5 Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Felix in 2007. The fourteenth
tropical cyclone, thirteenth storm, fifth hurricane and second major hurricane of the
annual hurricane season, Matthew formed from a vigorous tropical wave that moved off
the African coast on September 22, progressing on a westward track until it developed
into a tropical storm while it was situated just to the east of the Leeward Islands on
September 28. A day later, it became a hurricane while west of the Leeward Islands, and
rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane. It impacted Haiti,Jamaica, Cuba,
Dominican Republic, and The Bahamas. It is expected to significantly impact the
southeastern United States, especially the state of Florida, as well as Georgia, South
Carolina, andNorth Carolina.[1] If it makes landfall, which it is expected to come very
close to, it will be the first major hurricane to strike the United States since Hurricane
Wilma in 2005.
At least 289 deaths have been attributed to the storm, including 283 in Haiti; this makes it
the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Hanna in 2008, which killed over 500
people in Haiti.
On October 6, President Barack Obama declared a federal state of emergency for the state
ofFlorida.[2]