AKIPRESS.COM - Haiti braced for a pounding Monday night as Hurricane Matthew slowly, powerfully spun across the Caribbean Sea.

The storm packing 145-mph winds has killed at least three people, caused cruise ships to change course and prompted the governors of Florida and North Carolina to declare states of emergency for coastal areas, CNN reported.

Rain and wind thrashed Haiti on Monday night and up to 40 inches of rain could be dumped on the impoverished nation still recovering from a 2010 earthquake.

"This rainfall will likely produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," the US National Hurricane Center said. "Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion."

The eye of the storm is expected to make landfall around daybreak Tuesday, said CNN senior meteorologist Taylor Ward. That will probably happen off the western tip of the Tiburon Peninsula, which includes most of Haiti's southern coast, the hurricane center said.