Cameras on the International Space Station captured staggering footage of Hurricane Matthew hours before it started lashing Haiti.
The storm threatens to cause chaos in the Caribbean nation, with extremely heavy rain set to pound swathes of deforested land.
Officials fear the storm, which harnesses winds of 140 miles per hour, will cause mudslides on hilly terrains, wiping out poorly built homes.
John Hasse, an aid worker in Haiti with the humanitarian organization World Vision, told USA Today:
“With wind this strong, it will be extremely damaging and dangerous and homes for the average person are made of mud and sticks or poorly constructed cinderblocks.”
Meteorologists predict the storm will reach the Bahamas today, before moving towards Cuba and then Florida, possibly by Thursday.
It’s expected to weaken by the time it hits the US coast.
As the space station orbited overhead at 250 miles high, hurricane hunters flew aircrafts through the eye of the storm.