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~Today in history: Hurricane Matthew hits Haiti, leaving devastation and over 1,000 dead
The powerful storm made landfall on Oct. 4, 2016, slamming Haiti’s southern peninsula and exposing deep vulnerabilities
Street vendors cross a flooded street during Tropical Storm Laura in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2020. Tropical Storm Laura battered the Dominican Republic and Haiti and heading for a possible hit on the Louisiana coast as a hurricane, along with Tropical Storm
Marco. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)
On Oct. 4, 2016, Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Haiti, delivering a catastrophic blow to the country’s southern region. The Category 4 storm killed more than 1,000 people, displaced tens of thousands, and caused widespread destruction in cities like Les Cayes and Jérémie.
Editor’s note: This story is part of our “Today in History” series, where The Haitian Times revisits pivotal moments that shaped Haiti and its diaspora.
On Oct. 4, 2016, Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Haiti as a Category 4 storm, unleashing sustained winds of 145 miles per hour and torrential rains across the country’s southern peninsula. The hurricane claimed more than 1,000 lives, leveled entire communities, and left an estimated 1.4 million people in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
The coastal cities of Les Cayes and Jérémie bore the brunt of the storm. Homes, roads, schools, and hospitals were flattened or swept away, while farmland was destroyed, cutting off livelihoods and access to food. Thousands of families were displaced, forced to seek shelter in churches, public buildings, and makeshift camps.
In the days following the disaster, access to clean water and sanitation became critical issues, sparking fears of a resurgence in cholera—a disease that had already plagued Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. Humanitarian agencies rushed to deliver aid, but poor infrastructure and difficult terrain slowed relief efforts.
Hurricane Matthew’s impact also exposed longstanding vulnerabilities in Haiti’s disaster preparedness, governance, and international aid coordination. For many in the affected regions, rebuilding took years—if it happened at all.
Nearly a decade later, Oct. 4 serves as a stark reminder of Haiti’s ongoing struggle with climate resilience, underinvestment, and the social inequities that turn natural disasters into humanitarian catastrophes.
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