John Bacon, and Doyle Rice

USA TODAY

Hurricane Matthew barreled its way through the Caribbean and roared toward Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba on Monday.

Two fishermen have died in rough water churned up by the approaching storm in Haiti, the Associated Press reported.

Matthew is expected "to bring life-threatening rain, wind and storm surge to portions of Haiti," overnight Monday and early Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said.

Matthew could dump up to 25 inches of rain over much of southern Haiti, with "isolated maximum amounts of 40 inches," the hurricane center warned. Eastern Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and eastern Cuba could see 10 to 20 inches of rain with 25 inches in isolated areas.

Overall, about 1 trillion gallons of water is forecast to fall on Haiti during Matthew, according to WeatherBell meteorologist Ryan Maue.

In addition, storm surges in the region could cause catastrophic flash flooding.

Meteorologists said the Category 4 storm could track east of Florida later in the week, but that it was too soon to rule out its exact impact on the U.S. coast.

Forecast models indicated the threat to the U.S. had risen: "The threat to Florida and the southeastern U.S. coast has

increased," the hurricane center said late Monday.

"I have declared a state of emergency in every Florida county due to the severity and magnitude of Hurricane Matthew," Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Monday afternoon.

In North Carolina, central and eastern portions of the state were also placed under emergency declarations, according to Gov. Pat McCrory.

Hurricane Matthew: Here are scenarios for the USA

As of 5 p.m. ET, the hurricane center said the dangerous storm has top sustained winds near 140 mph and was moving to the north at 7 mph. It was located about 140 miles south of Tiburon, Haiti.

A hurricane warning was in effect for all of Jamaica, all of Haiti and portions of Cuba and the Bahamas.

The center of Matthew was forecast to hit or slide very near to southwestern Haiti late Monday and eastern Cuba on Tuesday.

In the Dominican Republic, though the worst of the storm is forecast to pass to the west, 13,000 people have been evacuated from high-risk areas, the country's Civil Defense director told the AP.

In Cuba, a hurricane alert has been declared for six eastern provinces. Residents of low-lying areas and offshore islands are moving into temporary shelters in government buildings.

In Cuba, Navy officials evacuated 700 spouses and children from the U.S. military base on Guantanamo Bay, keeping only essential personnel to protect the base and the detention facilities housing foreign terrorist suspects.

The families were boarded on C-130 cargo planes and shipped to Naval Air Station Pensacola as the sailors and other military personnel in Guantanamo prepared to hunker down for the storm. Base commander Capt. David Culpepper gave an update to people on the base Monday, urging them to get to their shelters and keep a close eye on each other to make sure nobody goes missing during Matthew’s pass.

“You’ve got a couple hours to do the best you can to prepare for it and harden your assets,” Culpepper said. “After that, it’s in the hands of God.”

Cuban President Raúl Castro visited the easternmost province of Guantanamo, a rural corner of the island filled with farms and smaller cities, to review the region’s preparations ahead of Hurricane Matthew.

Raúl: Preparation essential at this stage

That portion of Cuba hasn’t taken a direct hit from a hurricane in a recent memory, prompting Castro to order officials to install speaker systems to keep people informed of the oncoming hurricane. Local officials estimated that up to 179,000 people may need to be evacuated if the storm maintains its intensity, according to Granma, the official state newspaper of Cuba.

Sprites dance above Hurricane Matthew

Matthew briefly reached maximum Category 5 status Friday, making it the strongest Atlantic hurricane in almost a decade. The storm was expected to remain a powerful and dangerous hurricane into Tuesday, forecasters said.

Hurricane Matthew forces cruise ships to alter course

Although the official forecast showed a track east of Florida, the hurricane center said it was still too soon to rule out possible possible hurricane impacts there — or how Matthew might affect the remainder of the U.S. east coast.

In Haiti, one of the world's poorest countries, families were being urged to stock up on food and water, and evacuations were underway in high-risk areas. The Haitian Civil Protection Agency said it had 576 temporary shelters available that can accommodate up to 88,252 people for at least three days.

"This could be catastrophic for some places, particularly Haiti," hurricane center spokesman Dennis Feltgen told USA TODAY. "This is an area where trees just don't exist (due to deforestation). The terrain is stripped, and the threat of major flash floods and mudslides is very real."

In Jamaica, Prime Minister Andrew Holness told Reuters his nation was braced for the storm, which could be the most severe for his nation since Gilbert killed more than 40 Jamaicans and dumped more than 30 inches of rain in some areas in 1988.

"The impact of the hurricane will probably be similar or greater than Hurricane Gilbert, but our preparedness would be far better," Holness said.

Contributing: Alan Gomez, USA TODAY, in Miami