Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Haiti on Tuesday. The National Hurricane Center in Miami reported that a massive storm grew slightly stronger as forecasters nudged its predicted path closer to Florida.

The Category 4 hurricane headed toward Haiti with top sustained winds near 145 mph, up from 140 mph earlier. It had been  moving northward and made landfall on the southwest peninsula of Haiti. The National Hurricane Center said that life-threatening rain and storm surge had been expected in parts of Haiti .

A hurricane warning remained in effect for all of Jamaica, all of Haiti and portions of Cuba and the Bahamas. The U.S. coast could become a target later in this week.

The updated forecast tracked that Matthew was heading west , closer to Florida, which issued a state of emergency. Matthew has been expected to reach Florida later this week.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency for central and eastern parts of the state.

The hurricane center said, "The threat to Florida and the southeastern U.S. coast has increased. Tropical storm or hurricane conditions could affect portions of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina later this week or this weekend, even if the center of Matthew remains offshore."

The hurricane center said that it is too early to specify Matthew's mpact on the remainder of the U.S. east coast farther northadding, "very dangerous beach and boating conditions are likely along much of the U.S. east coast" later this week and weekend.

By Prakriti Neogi