Heavy rains from Hurricane Matthew drenched Haiti and Jamaica on Monday, flooding streets and sending many people to emergency shelters.
In Saskatoon, Joana Vassell is worried about friends and family back home. She was on the phone Monday with her niece in Jamaica, where water flooded the streets as abandoned cars wash through the country.
“Kingston is really, really bad she said, and lots of water,” Vassell said.
READ MORE: Hurricane Matthew makes landfall in Haiti as devastating Category 4 storm
Thousands of kilometers away from loved ones, the only thing she can do is hope for the best.
“So you think, ‘do they have enough kerosene oil, do they have enough food? Do they have matches?’ these are the things we take for granted here … that’s the thing you have to worry about with them there,” Vassell said.
While Jamaica has lowered a hurricane warning to a tropical storm warning as Matthew tracked towards Haiti, a local hurricane expert said the storm has the potential to get stronger as it continues its northward trek.
“I believe there is sufficient distance between the south part of the U.S. And Haiti so I believe it will suck up a lot of moisture and a lot of energy and can become stronger afterward,” said Sopan Kurkute, with the University of Saskatchewan.
For Vassell, just seeing the faces of family in a time like this is a much needed sign of relief.
“You wonder what’s going on back there and what you would do if you were there … I’m just waiting for the phone call when this is all over,” Vassell said.
READ MORE: Hurricane Matthew threatens to batter Haiti, may strike Florida
The Category 4 storm made landfall in southwest Haiti on Tuesday morning, threatening a largely rural corner of the impoverished country with devastating storm conditions as it headed north toward Cuba and the eastern coast of Florida.
At one point a Category 5 storm, Matthew is the region’s strongest hurricane since Felix in 2007.
Stu Gooden contributed to this story; with files from The Associated Press
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