The most powerful storm in a DECADE: Hurricane Matthew weakens slightly but is still set to break records and bring chaos as it barrels across the Caribbean towards Florida with 140mph winds 

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Hurricane Matthew weakened slightly early Saturday as it continued roaring across the Caribbean on a course that put Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba in the path of its potentially devastating winds and rain.

With winds reaching 140 miles per hour, forecasters said the storm - downgraded to a Category 4 storm from the top Category 5 - was still powerful enough to wreck homes as islanders braced for its arrival.

The US National Hurricane Center called it the strongest Atlantic hurricane since Felix in 2007, and said Matthew will be approaching Jamaica late Sunday night. 

It is expected to reach the eastern part of the island on Monday.

The forecast track would carry Matthew across Cuba and into the Bahamas, with an outside chance of a brush with Florida, though that would be several days away.

Meanwhile, it remains a very powerful Category 4 storm with a hurricane watch issued for parts of Haiti, according to the National Hurricane Center.

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Hurricane Matthew weakened slightly early Saturday to a Category 4 storm. This NOAA satellite image taken on Saturday shows the well-defined storm continuing to slowly move westward at about 7mph across the Caribbean

The storm poses a danger to Jamaica, parts of Hispañola, eastern Cuba, and the Bahamas. It could hit the United States sometime next week

The center also noted that while some fluctuations in intensity are possible this weekend, Matthew is expected to remain a powerful hurricane through Monday.  

Evan Thompson, director of Jamaica's National Meteorological Service, said the first effects of the storm may be felt as early as Saturday.

'We do consider it serious,' Thompson said. 'We are all on high alert.' 

Jamaican authorities said they were taking all possible precautions. 

'The government is on high alert,' Robert Morgan, director of communications at the prime minister's office, said.

'We hope that the hurricane does not hit us, but if it does hit us, we are trying our very best to ensure that we are in the best possible place,' he said. 

Disaster coordinators, police and troops are on standby and shelters are being opened across the island, Morgan said.

As of 2pm EDT, the storm was centered about 380 miles southeast of Kingston. 

It was meandering, moving south at 2mph, but expected to veer north soon.

Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 30 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 205 miles.

The National Hurricane Center called it the strongest Atlantic hurricane since Felix in 2007, and said Matthew will be approaching Jamaica late Sunday night 

As Matthew skimmed past the northern tip of South America there were reports of heavy flooding and at least one death — the second attributed to the storm.

Authorities said at least 18 houses were damaged along the La Guajira peninsula of Colombia, which has been suffering from a multi-year drought. 

They said a 67-year-old man was swept away to his death by a flash flood in an area where it had not rained for four years.

Local TV broadcast images of cars and tree trunks surging though flooded streets in coastal areas.

Colombian authorities closed access to beaches and urged residents living near the ocean to move inland in preparation for storm surges that they said would be most intense on Saturday.

There was also concern that heavy rain across much of the country could dampen turnout for Sunday's nationwide referendum on a historic peace accord between the government and leftist rebels. 

Matthew also caused a second death when it entered the Caribbean on Wednesday, with officials in St. Vincent reporting a 16-year-old boy was crushed by a boulder as he tried to clear a blocked drain. 

Jamaicans flocked to the supermarkets on Friday to take care of last minute shopping pending the arrival of Hurricane Matthew in Kingston

A man carries empty water containers while chatting with another man outside a supermarket, as they brace for the arrival of Hurricane Matthew in Kingston, Jamaica

In Jamaica, high surf began pounding the coast and flooding temporarily closed the road linking the capital to its airport. 

Carl Ferguson, head of the marine police, said people were starting to heed calls to relocate from small islands and areas near rural waterways.

Many also began stocking up for the emergency.

Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the hurricane center in Miami, said storm force winds and rain will arrive well before the center of the storm. 

Jamaicans 'basically have daylight today, they have tonight and they have daylight tomorrow to take care of what needs to be done,' he said. 

Despite sunny weather and only a few scattered clouds, many Kingstonians started stocking up on water and food on Friday.

Tenaj Lewis, 41, a doctor who was stocking up with groceries in Kingston on Friday, said Jamaica was much better-prepared for hurricanes than when Gilbert struck.

'The country literally shut down for months,' she said. 

Jamaica was hard hit by Hurricane Gilbert, which made landfall on the island in September 1988 and was the most destructive storm in the country's modern history.

The last major hurricane in the region was Sandy, in 2012.

Since then, hurricanes have brought a few days of power outages but have not been nearly as destructive and many Jamaicans were unflustered. 

Meteorologists said if Matthew moves swiftly, it has a greater chance of causing significant impact from rain, wind and flooding along much of the Atlantic coast

If Matthew did veer toward the US, it could hit Florida sometime in the middle of next week

Matthew could be the most powerful storm to cross the island since records began, meteorologist Eric Holthaus said on Twitter. 

'Hurricane Matthew could rival or possibly exceed Gilbert if the core of the strongest winds does actually move over Jamaica,' Feltgen said.

'There is no certainty of that at this point.'  

Matthew was expected to bring heavy rainfall especially to the eastern tip and higher elevations, which could trigger flooding and landslides, Thompson said.

Forecasters said rainfall totals could reach 10 to 15 inches with isolated maximum amounts of 25 inches in Jamaica and southwestern Haiti.

A LOOK AT DEADLY HURRICANE FELIX THAT SLAMMED INTO NIGARGUA'S MISIKITO COAST IN 2007 

On September 4, 2007, Hurricane Felix slammed into Nicaragua's Miskito Coast, as a record-setting Category 5 storm, killing 130 people and causing an estimated $720 million of damage.

The storm, with 160mph winds, whipped metal rooftops through the air like razors, forcing thousands to flee and destroyed many homes.

Felix struck on the same day Hurricane Henriette roared into Mexico's Baja California peninsula. 

People wade through the water in Tegucigalpa's flooded market, on September 6, 2007 in Honduras

Partially destroyed homes sit in La Pajara, northern Nicaragua on September 6, 2007. Hurricane Felix made landfall near the area on September 4

It also came only two weeks after Hurricane Dean struck Mexico further up the Caribbean coast, killing 27 people.

At the time, never before in recorded hurricane history had two Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes made landfall in the same year. 

Felix was formed from a tropical wave that departed from the coast of Africa on August 24, 2007, according to NOAA.

The tropical wave moved westward across the tropical Atlantic for several days while unleashing a persistent area of disorganized cloudiness and showers.

An aerial view shows the flooded area of the community of Potrerillos in Honduras

A Miskito man pours flour for cooking in his home village, destroyed by Hurricane Felix

Aerial picture taken on September, 6, 2007 shows the village of Sandy Bay, Nicaragua, after the passage of the eye of hurricane Felix

It eventually became a tropical storm on September 1, 2007 while 60 miles north of Barbados, before quickly sweeping over Grenada and across the southern part of the Caribbean.

The tropical storm was upgraded to a hurricane on September 2 before making landfall near Punta Gorda, Nicaragua two days later.

In Nicaragua's remote northeast corner ahead of Felix's landfall, more than 12,000 people had been evacuated.

In neighboring Honduras, about 5,000 residents and 3,000 tourists were evacuated from offshore islands just before Felix hit.

Native Miskito children stand amid the rubble of a destroyed church in the Miskito village of Dakura

After making landfall, it quickly was downgraded to a tropical storm but not without causing severe damage to homes and buildings from winds and storm surge. 

Both Nicaragua and Honduras also had additional damage from rain-induced flooding.

Felix, for many, revived memories of Hurricane Mitch, which killed more than 10,000 people in Central America in 1998, many of them in Honduras.

Over the years, there have been several other deadly hurricanes that have made landfall as Category 5 storms, leaving death and destruction in their wake. 

IN THE PACIFIC

October 23, 2015: Hurricane Patricia's eye came ashore about 55 miles west-northwest of Manzanillo

In 1959: An unnamed storm struck near Manzanillo, killing about 1,800 people.

IN THE ATLANTIC

September 4, 2007: Hurricane Felix slammed into Nicaragua's Mosquito Coast, reportedly killing 130 people

August 21, 2007: Hurricane Dean hit near Majahual, Mexico, killing at least 13 people

August 24, 1992: Hurricane Andrew came ashore in Miami, killing 65 people

September 14, 1988: Hurricane Gilbert slammed into Cancun, Mexico, killing 327 people

August 29, 1979: Hurricane David barreled into Leeward Island of Dominica, killing more than 2,000 people

September 2, 1977: Hurricane Anita plowed into Tamaulipas, Mexico, killing at least 10 people

September 9, 1971: Hurricane Edith made landfall in Nicaragua, killing 30 people

August 17, 1969: Hurricane Camille hit near Biloxi, Mississippi, killing 256 people

September 28, 1955: Hurricane Janet raced into Chetumal, Mexico, killing more than 600 people

September 16, 1937: an unnamed Category 5 hurricane blew into the Bahamas, killing 51 people

September 3, 1935: Hurricane Labor Day churned into the Florida Keys, killing 408 people

September 13, 1928: Hurricane San Felipe-Okeechobee pummeled Puerto Rico, killing 2,166 people

Kingston, in the southeastern corner of Jamaica, is expected to experience flooding. 

In Haiti, civil protection officials broadcast warnings of a coming storm surge and big waves, saying the country would be 'highly threatened' from the approaching system over the next 72 hours. 

They urged families to prepare emergency food and water kits.

Emergency management authorities banned boating starting on Saturday, particularly along the impoverished country's southern coastline, but numerous fishing skiffs could still be seen off the south coast.

In Cuba, which has a strong record of protecting residents when storms strike, people in the eastern coastal city of Santiago de Cuba said they were following the news closely, although the sky was still blue.

'We don't know yet exactly where it will go, so we're still waiting to see,' Marieta Gomez, owner of Hostal Marieta, said.

'We Cubans are well prepared.' 

The U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is also potentially in the path of the storm. 

A mandatory evacuation of non-essential personnel, including family members of military personnel was underway and everyone remaining behind was being told to take shelter, said Julie Ann Ripley, a spokeswoman. 

There are about 5,500 people living on the base, including 61 men held at the detention center.

If Matthew did veer toward the US, it could hit Florida sometime in the middle of next week. 

Weather observers on the US's East Coast are closely monitoring the storm as there is a possibility that it could move its way up past Florida by Wednesday.

'It's too early to rule out what impacts, if any, would occur in the United States and Florida,' Feltgen said.

The only question is to what extent – if any – the hurricane depreciates in strength.

'If Matthew moves swiftly, it has a greater chance of causing significant impact from rain, wind and flooding along much of the Atlantic coast,' AccuWeather meteorologist Bernie Rayno told AccuWeather.com.

'On the other hand, if Matthew's forward speed slows, it could still have significant impact on the Atlantic coast, but in a much smaller area, when compared to a fast-moving hurricane,' Rayno said.

Forecasters will have a much clearer idea of just how powerful Matthew remains after it completes its path near Cuba early next week.

The storm will likely lose strength once it hits the Communist island, but it could regain strength once out to sea again.

Analysts will also be able to chart its path and predict where precisely it will make landfall.

If one were a betting man, forecasters say that Floridians should brace themselves by Wednesday.

'While a track into the western Caribbean and then the Gulf of Mexico is still possible, that outcome appears unlikely at this time,' said AccuWeather meteorologist Steve Travis.

If the storm doesn't make landfall in the US, the impact will be minimal – rough surf, strong rip currents and large swells.