DHAKA: Hurricane Matthew’s strong winds pounded Cuba on Tuesday night even as the powerful storm took its last lashes at Haiti, where it downed trees, drenched the ground with feet of rain and flooded streets.

The damage was especially brutal in southern Haiti, where sustained winds of 130 mph continued to punish the impoverished island nation even as the eye of the storm crossed eastern Cuba.

The “extremely dangerous” storm has killed at least seven people, including four in Haiti’s neighbor, the Dominican Republic, reports CNN.

Officials feared a high death toll in Haiti.

“We’ve already seen deaths. People who were out at sea. There are people who are missing. They are people who didn't respect the alerts. They’ve lost their lives,” Interim Haitian President Jocelerme Privert said at a news conference.

Heavy rain throughout the day caused Haitian waterways to swell.

“The river has overflowed all around us,” church pastor Louis St. Germain said. “It’s terrible ... a total disaster.”

St. Germain, who spoke to CNN on the phone from Les Cayes, Haiti, said the storm sheared a wall off his house and tore roofs off many buildings in the area.

And in a significant setback for emergency responders and aid relief efforts, the bridge that connected Port-au-Prince with southern Haiti collapsed.

There are reports of communications towers being affected by downed trees and officials are worried it will hamper the emergency response.

Matthew was moving across Cuba on its way to the Bahamas.

BDST: 1014 HRS, OCT 05, 2016
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