More than 2 million people along Georgia, South Carolina and Florida coasts are advised to flee as hurricane strengthens
Hurricane Matthew was pounding portions of the Bahamas early on Thursday and is expected to intensify on approach to Florida as much of the damage it wrought to Haiti remains unclear.
The US hurricane centre said Matthew was a category 3 hurricane, 295 miles south-west of West Palm Beach, Florida, with winds of 115mph but is expected to strengthen to category 4, either hitting Florida later on Thursday or moving out to sea.
If Matthew does come ashore, it would be the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005. More than two million people along the Florida, Georgia and South Carolina coasts have been urged to leave their homes.