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New Photos Show Hurricane Matthew's Path Of Destruction In Haiti

So far Haiti has borne the brunt of the storm.
By 

Senior Reporter, HuffPost

and

Senior Photo Editor, HuffPost

Andres Martinez Casares/Reuters

Record-breaking Hurricane Matthew has claimed at least 478 lives in Haiti and nearby countries.

One of the strongest hurricanes to hit the region in recent years, Matthew carried wind speeds as high as 140 miles per hour as it whipped through the Caribbean this week. It reached a rating of Category 4 hurricane, the second highest possible strength, but has weakened to a Category 3 as it approaches Florida’s Atlantic Coast.

Haiti has so far borne the brunt of the storm. Many citizens of the largely impoverished country have been cut off from aid and storm information due to the collapse of a bridge crucial to linking the capital Port-au-Prince and the hard-hit southern peninsula.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has declared a state of emergency in Florida, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts. Evacuation orders have gone into effect in Florida, as well as Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

See photos below of the devastation and disaster preparation:

Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters
Destroyed houses are seen after Hurricane Matthew hit Jeremie, Haiti, October 6, 2016.
Andres Martinez Casares / Reuters
Trees are seen after being hit by Hurricane Matthew on the outskirts of Les Cayes, Haiti, October 6, 2016.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters
Workers bury two bodies after Hurricane Matthew passes Jeremie, Haiti, October 6, 2016.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters
Destroyed houses and boats are seen in a village after Hurricane Matthew passes Corail, Haiti, October 6, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters
People try to rebuild their destroyed house after Hurricane Matthew passed Jeremie, Haiti, October 6, 2016.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters
Destroyed houses are seen in a village after Hurricane Matthew passes Corail, Haiti, October 6, 2016.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters
People try to rebuild their destroyed houses after Hurricane Matthew passes Jeremie, Haiti, October 6, 2016.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters
A motorcyclist rides past a destroyed church after Hurricane Matthew passed Jeremie, Haiti, October 6, 2016.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters
People try to dry clothes in the sun at their destroyed houses after Hurricane Matthew passes Jeremie, Haiti, October 6, 2016.
HECTOR RETAMAL via Getty Images
Stanley stands in his destroyed house after the passing of Hurricane Matthew, in Les Cayes, in Southwest Haiti, on October 6, 2016.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters
People walk down the street next to destroyed houses in Jeremie, Haiti, on Wednesday.
HECTOR RETAMAL via Getty Images
Stephanie, 26, walks in the yard of her destroyed home after Hurricane Matthew, in Croix Marche-a-Terre, in Southwest oh Haiti, on October 6, 2016.
Andres Martinez Casares / Reuters
Men clear a fallen tree from after Hurricane Matthew passed through Les Cayes, Haiti, October 6, 2016.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters
A boy stands near a flooded street after Hurricane Matthew passes Cite-Soleil in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 5, 2016.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters
A girl cries, surrounded by relatives, at a partially destroyed school on Wednesday after the hurricane passed Jeremie, Haiti.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters
A woman crosses over a water canal in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Wednesday.
HECTOR RETAMAL via Getty Images
A man tries to cross the overflowing Rouyonne River in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday.
HECTOR RETAMAL via Getty Images
A man is carried across the La Digue river in Petit Goave, Haiti, on Wednesday.
HECTOR RETAMAL via Getty Images
A man walks down the flooded street of a Port-au-Prince commune on Tuesday.
HECTOR RETAMAL via Getty Images
People try to cross the overflowing La Rouyonne river south of Port-au-Prince on Wednesday.
Andres Martinez Casares/Reuters
People clear a house destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti, on Wednesday.
Andres Martinez Casares/Reuters
A television is among the rubble of a destroyed house in Les Cayes, Haiti, on Wednesday.
YAMIL LAGE via Getty Images
A road between Guantanamo and Baracoa in Cuba is left covered in rocks and rubble Wednesday after Hurricane Matthew passed through the eastern tip of the country on Tuesday afternoon.
YAMIL LAGE via Getty Images
A woman walks past damaged housing in the Carbonera community of Guantanamo, Cuba, on Wednesday.

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