The United States began evacuating coastal areas on Wednesday as Hurricane Matthew churned toward the Bahamas, after killing at least nine people in the Caribbean in a maelstrom of wind, mud and water. Haiti's presidential election, scheduled for Sunday, was postponed after Matthew blasted the impoverished nation, knocking out a key bridge providing access to the country's south where the storm made landfall. Matthew, the worst storm to hit the Caribbean in nearly a decade, also forced the closure airports in the Bahamas, which was girding for a hit as early as Wednesday evening.
