Hurricane Matthew, a category five hurricane, first hit land on Oct. 4. Haiti and Cuba were the first victims of the storm. The winds were not the main cause of death and damages. Severe flooding has left Haiti in a state of emergency with over 1,000 reported deaths and over a million people in need. So far, the worst damage has been done in Haiti, but the storm’s effects in the United States are bad and continuing to escalate.

By Oct. 7, the hurricane hit the coast of Florida. It caused severe flooding, leaving many popular tourists towns deep underwater.  That was only the beginning of Matthew’s U.S. destruction. Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina have experienced severe flooding. There has only been 18 deaths reported, but thousands are stranded and the death toll is expected to rise as the flooding continues.

Help from all over the country and the world are helping those areas that have been affected. It has been questioned whether or not Haiti will be able to recover, as almost everything has been destroyed.

The last hurricane that caused this much damage was Sandy back in 2012. Sandy, a mere category three to Matthew’s five, only took 285 lives. Matthew is the first category five hurricane since Katrina.