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Cuba on guard as hurricane Matthew grows stronger

Xinhua, September 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Cuban meteorological institute, Insmet, said Thursday that it is closely monitoring the evolution and trajectory of hurricane Matthew, which has strengthened in the last few hours and looks set to make landfall on Cuba in the coming days.

According to the daily Granma, Insmet issued a hurricane alert for Matthew on Thursday afternoon.

At midday on Thursday, Matthew was located 300km northeast of the island of Curacao and was moving westward at 28 kph.

Matthew first grew into a tropical storm on Wednesday but has now become a hurricane and is set to grow in intensity and size in the next 48 hours.

One teenage boy died on the island of St. Vincent on Wednesday as he tried to fight the flooding of his house caused by Matthew.

While it is now moving west, it is expected to turn north at the weekend once it hits the southwestern edge of the Bermuda high, an area of high pressure over Bermuda.

Such a northern turn will put Matthew on a collision course with Cuba, while also likely skimming Jamaica and Haiti.

According to Weather.com, Jamaica and Haiti will feel Matthew on Sunday night and Cuba on Monday. Current predictions state Matthew may grow to a category 3 hurricane by that time. Enditem