The storm's projected path still poses a potential threat to South Florida.
A slightly strengthened Matthew had sustained winds of 145 mph late Monday, up from 140 mph earlier in the day. Its center was expected to pass near or over the southwestern tip of impoverished Haiti after dawn on Tuesday, then head for another landfall in eastern Cuba, the . National Hurricane Center said.
"We are looking at a dangerous hurricane that is heading into the vicinity of western Haiti and eastern Cuba," said Richard Pasch, a senior hurricane specialist with the center. "People who are impacted by things like flooding and mudslides hopefully would get out and relocate because that's where we have seen loss of life in the past."
The shift in the storm's path on Monday afternoon represents a decisive change from the past two days, during which South Florida had been outside or on the very edge of the cone of possibilities for the storm's center.
Late Monday night the hurricance center said the storm appeared to be on track to pass east of Florida through the Bahamas, but it was too soon to predict with certainty whether it would threaten the U.S. East Coast.
"Although our track is to the east of Florida, interests there should remain vigilant and we can't rule out the possibility of impacts," Pasch said.
Hurricane or tropical storm watches could be posted early Tuesday for portions of the Florida mainland and Florida Keys, said Dennis Feltgen, spokesman for the National Hurricane Center.
He said a number of the more reliable track models shifted the storm's path to the west, as a high-pressure system strengthened enough to "nudge it to the northwest, closer to the Florida mainland."
Worsening the risk to Florida is the latest projection of the hurricane's strength. While previous forecasts called for the storm to weaken to Category 2 status after passing Cuba, the current forecast calls for it to remain a Category 3 storm or higher.
"We still expect to be dealing with a very powerful hurricane over the next couple of days," Feltgen said.
Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency, saying "Hurricane Matthew is a life-threatening Category four hurricane and we must all take it seriously. If Hurricane Matthew directly impacts Florida, there could be massive destruction which we haven't seen since Hurricane Andrew devastated Miami-Dade County in 1992. That is why we cannot delay and must prepare for direct impact now."
Florida Power & Light Co. announced it was activating its emergency response plan, preparing to deploy 4,000 workers to restore power.
"This is an extremely powerful and dangerous storm and we fully anticipate excess debris, such as trees, branches and palm fronds, to cause power outages along the eastern portion of our service area," FPL president Eric Silagy said in a statement.
At 11 p.m. Monday, the storm was 100 miles south of Tiburon, Haiti. The storm, with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph, was moving north at 7 mph. On its current track, the hurricane's center, which produces the strongest winds, will reach eastern Cuba Tuesday night and move over the Bahamas Tuesday night and Wednesday.
In Port-au-Prince, schools were shuttered and residents lined up at gas stations and cleared out the shelves at supermarkets. Some worried the city of roughly a million people would not fare well. "We are not prepared," unemployed mason Fritz Achelus said as he watched water pool on a downtown street.
Haiti's civil protection agency reported the death of a fisherman in rough water churned up by the storm. Agency chief Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste said another fisherman was missing.
The confirmed death in Haiti brought the total for the storm to at least three. One man died Friday in Colombia and a 16-year-old was killed in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Sept. 28 when the system passed through the eastern Caribbean.
Authorities went door to door in Haiti's south coast cities of Les Cayes and Jeremie to make sure people were aware of the storm. At least 1,200 people were moved to shelters in churches and schools.
Forecasters said the storm could dump as much as 40 inches of rain on some isolated areas of Haiti, raising fears of deadly mudslides and floods in the heavily deforested country.
In Jamaica, where many streets were flooded, more than 700 people packed shelters in the eastern parish of St. Thomas and the Salvation Army said its 200-bed shelter in Kingston was at twice its capacity.
Cuba's government declared a hurricane alert for six eastern provinces and removed traffic lights from poles in the city of Santiago to keep them from falling due to heavy wind.
Matthew's center was expected to make landfall in Cuba about 50 miles east of the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, where authorities evacuated about 700 spouses and children of service members on military transport planes to Florida.
The U.S. installation has a population of about 5,500, including 61 men held at the detention center for terrorism suspects. Navy Capt. David Culpepper, the base commander, said emergency shelters had been set up and authorities were bracing for storm surge and heavy rain that could threaten some low-lying areas, including around the power plant and water desalination facility.
"We have no choice but to prepare ourselves to take a frontal assault if you will," Culpepper said.
South Florida's large Haitian community is anxiously watching the progress of Matthew.
Jeff Lozama, chairman of the Haitian American Chamber of Commerce of Florida, flew back Sunday from a friend's funeral in rural southern Haiti. In that region, where significant rainfall is expected and many people don't have access to radio or television, Lozama said, "lack of information is probably our biggest threat."
"I don't think the average person on the ground in the south had a clue," he said.
They're the Haitians he's most worried about, because many live in flimsy homes that won't withstand strong winds.
"They never would be able to prepare or safeguard themselves against this devastating hurricane," he said.
His brother, Ed, host on Radio One in Port-au-Prince, plans to broadcast throughout the hurricane, in hopes of providing vital information on the storm. Although some in Haiti can afford to stock up on supplies, he said, "for the majority part of the population, they don't have that luxury and it's like leaving it up to God."
Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard set "port condition whiskey" for southeast Florida ports, requiring vessels 500 tons or larger to prepare to put to sea.
Gov. Scott, after a briefing at the Palm Beach County Emergency Operations Center, said South Florida could expect, at a minimum, beach erosion, rip currents and large amounts of rain. Planning for the worst, he said, "could be the difference between life and death."
"If Matthew directly impacts Florida," Scott said, "the destruction will be catastrophic and you will need to be prepared."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
dfleshler@sun-sentinel.com, 954-356-4535
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