Hurricane Matthew: How Jamaica is preparing for the storm
- Published

People in Jamaica are heading to the supermarkets to stock up on food. They want to make sure they have enough to last whilst the hurricane is happening.

It's not just food - hurricanes can cause problems for electricity supplies to homes, so having torches ready is really important.

But all this shopping leads to very long queues and empty shelves at the supermarkets.

People are also stocking up on bottles of water or filling up empty bottles like this man. A hurricane can damage the water supply to homes, so it's important to have enough water to drink and cook with, and also to wash and even flush the toilets with.

Homes and buildings need protecting. So before a hurricane hits, people board up as many windows, doors and shop fronts as they can. This helps to prevent the windows and the insides of buildings from getting damaged.

Drivers fill up their cars with petrol, so that they can travel to safer areas and in case the hurricane damages the petrol stations.

And for fishermen, they need to get their boats out of the water and secure them on land so they don't get swept way by the hurricane.
- Published31 August 2023