Hurricane Matthew claims over 800 lives in Haiti, at least 3 dead in Florida

At least three people were killed in Florida and over 800 in Haiti after Hurricane Matthew left a trail of destruction as it swept from the Caribbean country towards the United States.

Reports state that at least 877 people were declared dead in Haiti and tens of thousands of people were left homeless after the hurricane struck the country. The death toll continued to rise on Friday as a cholera outbreak in the region claimed many lives.

Most of the fatalities in the country have been reported in towns and fishing villages around the peninsula in the southwestern parts. The storm, which passed through the peninsula on Monday and Tuesday, razed hundreds of home in its way, Reuters reported.

"We flew over parts of the Grand'Anse region. It's a humanitarian catastrophe. The people urgently need food, water, medicine," said Frenel Kedner, a government official in the town of Jeremie in southwest Haiti.

Three of the major towns in Haiti reported several fatalities including the farming village of Chantal. Chantal mayor on Friday said that at least 86 people were killed in the particular region, mainly due to trees falling on the houses. The mayor also added that 20 people were still missing.

US President Barack Obama on Friday declared a state of emergency in the coastal states of Florida and Georgia as the powerful Category 5 hurricane surged from the Caribbean towards the US, however, the storm lost its intensity and downgraded to a Category 2 storm as it reached the coastal shores of Florida.

Hurricane Matthew has already claimed three lives in Florida as the winds swept through the state with the intensity of 175 kilometres per hour.

Hurricane Matthew is the strongest the Caribbean has witnessed ever since Hurricane Felix in 2007. Four other causalities were reported in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.