Hurricane Matthew’s rampage through the Caribbean, the Bahamas and up the southeast U.S. coast tested storm and flood forecasters, utilities, contractor preparations and civil engineering works for more than 1,500 miles and, in some cases, found them wanting.
Reports are trickling in from the western arm of Haiti, where Matthew first made landfall on Oct. 4, with 145-mph winds and a surge that knocked out communications and bridges. Reportedly, it killed 1,000 people and left 1.4 million at risk of diseases and food and water shortages.