The Dutch government is sending a navy ship to Haiti to deliver aid including food, water and temporary shelters in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

The death toll in the US from Hurricane Matthew has climbed to at least 17, with nearly half of the deaths in North Carolina.

Hurricane Matthew has been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone but still had some dangerous fight left in it, dumping more than a foot of rain on North Carolina.

People across south-west Haiti are digging through the wreckage of their homes, salvaging what they can from a deadly and devastating encounter with Hurricane Matthew.

Hurricane Matthew has spun dangerously close to Florida's Atlantic coast, scraping the shore with howling wind and heavy rain and leaving more than 400,000 without power.

Haiti's death toll has soared after rescue crews began reaching remote corners cut off when Hurricane Matthew slammed into the country's south-west peninsula - the first Category 4 storm to hit the country in more than 50 years.

US president Barack Obama has declared a state of emergency in Florida as Hurricane Matthew approaches with winds of 140mph, leaving more than 100 dead in its wake across the Caribbean.

Haitian officials dramatically raised the known death toll from Hurricane Matthew on Thursday as they finally began to reach corners of the country that had been cut off by the rampaging storm.

Nearly two million people along the US East Coast have been urged to evacuate their homes.

Nearly two million people have been urged to evacuate their homes as Hurricane Matthew roars towards Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

People boarded up beach homes, schools closed and officials ordered evacuations along the East Coast as Hurricane Matthew tore through the Bahamas and took aim at Florida.

Hurricane Matthew is heading for the southern Bahamas and America's east coast after slamming into Haiti with howling 145mph winds.

Anxious Florida residents have cleared supermarket shelves while North Carolina called for the evacuation of three barrier islands as Hurricane Matthew threatens a large swathe of the US east coast in the coming days.

Hurricane Matthew has roared across the south-western tip of Haiti with 145mph winds.

Heavy rain from the outer bands of Hurricane Matthew have drenched Jamaica and Haiti, flooding streets and forcing thousands of residents to emergency shelters as the category four storm approaches the two countries.

A powerful Hurricane Matthew moved slowly across the Caribbean Sea this evening on a track that authorities warned could trigger devastation in parts of Haiti.

More than 2,000 people have been moved to shelters in Jamaica as Hurricane Matthew heads towards the island.