:00:12. > :00:17.First, Hurricane Matthew has now reached Florida
:00:18. > :00:20.in the United States, where over half a million homes
:00:21. > :00:26.are without power and 20,000 people are staying in shelters.
:00:27. > :00:32.This is the moment a research plane flew into the middle
:00:33. > :00:37.of Hurricane Matthew as it swirled towards the south coast of America.
:00:38. > :00:39.The hurricane hasn't reached land yet but the howling winds
:00:40. > :00:42.and torrential rain started overnight, while huge waves
:00:43. > :00:52.The fear here is of a storm surge - now they're fearing waves of up to 7
:00:53. > :00:57.to 11 feet and in fact of the coast a bouy out in the water measured
:00:58. > :01:03.waves of 17 feet high now that's the height of a double decker bus -
:01:04. > :01:06.that's what they're fearing might come in land.
:01:07. > :01:09.Thousands of people have already left their homes and driven
:01:10. > :01:13.to safety, and motorways have been made into one way to help people
:01:14. > :01:20.But some people, like these girls in Florida, have stayed
:01:21. > :01:30.in their homes to shelter from the storm.
:01:31. > :01:35.It is very stressful and nerve racking, nobody quite understand how
:01:36. > :01:37.difficult it is, getting shopping, the gas, putting things up on your
:01:38. > :01:38.windows. The hurricane is now making its way
:01:39. > :01:41.further north, and is expected to get weaker -
:01:42. > :01:43.but people in Florida are waiting to see just how much damage
:01:44. > :01:46.Hurricane Matthew will cause. One of the first countries to be hit
:01:47. > :01:49.by hurricane Matthew was Haiti, It's thought nearly 500 people have
:01:50. > :01:53.died there with thousand Hurricane Matthew has devastated
:01:54. > :01:59.parts of Haiti as it swept Houses have been destroyed,
:02:00. > :02:06.trees uprooted, floodwater has taken over some areas and many people have
:02:07. > :02:11.been left without power and water. The south part of the island
:02:12. > :02:13.is worst affected. In one town called Jeremie,
:02:14. > :02:16.nearly all of the buildings It's not the first time Haiti has
:02:17. > :02:22.been affected by a natural disaster. In 2010, a massive earthquake struck
:02:23. > :02:27.the country and killed more So why do things like this
:02:28. > :02:35.keep happening to Haiti? Haiti had not even recovered
:02:36. > :02:38.from the earthquake in 2010, with parts of the country
:02:39. > :02:47.still being rebuilt six years on. It is not positioned at that far
:02:48. > :02:52.away from Florida in the USA. In the Caribbean it is very warm. Very,
:02:53. > :02:56.very warm waters. And there are hurricanes in the mid Atlantic which
:02:57. > :02:59.track along and bring lots of energy and become very powerful and then
:03:00. > :03:04.start to move northward towards Haiti. Like we saw with Matthew this
:03:05. > :03:10.week. Haiti is significant because it is a poor country, right next
:03:11. > :03:14.door to the Dominican Republic, but Haiti have destroyed a lot of their
:03:15. > :03:17.forest on the mountain so when it rains all the water comes down the
:03:18. > :03:23.mountain and it starts to flood the settlements below. When you get a
:03:24. > :03:26.hurricane or tropical storm, in April country was not as good
:03:27. > :03:28.buildings, those buildings get damaged quite easily by strong
:03:29. > :03:34.winds. Haiti is the poorest country
:03:35. > :03:37.in the western side of the world. They don't have enough
:03:38. > :03:39.money to build strong So when natural disasters like this
:03:40. > :03:45.happen many people can't afford to repair their homes,
:03:46. > :03:47.and the government doesn't have It means that they are going to need
:03:48. > :03:56.a lot of help from other countries and charities to help people
:03:57. > :04:00.rebuild their lives. We spoke to a charity called
:04:01. > :04:05.World Vision who are working in the country to find
:04:06. > :04:17.out what they are doing We have seen a lot of damaged and
:04:18. > :04:21.destroyed houses. Right now our biggest concerns at the overcrowded
:04:22. > :04:28.shelters where tens of thousands are residing in less than 300 shelters.
:04:29. > :04:32.Our biggest concern is sanitation, water, and hygiene conditions. We
:04:33. > :04:36.are trying to provide emergency supplies so that families and
:04:37. > :04:41.children can have access to clean water and supplies that will help
:04:42. > :04:42.them, like blankets, bed sheets, jerry cans, hygiene kits.
:04:43. > :04:44.That's all from me, Newsround's back with Ayshah tomorrow morning.
:04:45. > :04:48.And if you want to catch up on the rest of the day's news then
:04:49. > :04:50.head online for this week's weirdest stories in strange,
:04:51. > :04:54.stranger, strangest or even give our quiz of the week a go.