MIAMI, United States (AFP) – The United States marked its first two fatalities from Hurricane Matthew as the Category 3 storm lashed the Florida coast, fire officials said Friday.

A 58-year-old woman suffered cardiac arrest in her home in central Florida’s St Lucie County overnight, but high winds prevented fire officials from reaching her, a fire spokeswoman told AFP.

“We were unable to respond safely, and unfortunately she died,” said St Lucie County Fire District spokeswoman Catherine Chaney.

In the early morning hours, rescuers also received a call about an 82-year-old man who was experiencing stroke-like symptoms and was having difficulty breathing.

“Again, we could not go because that’s when the winds were high,” Chaney said.

The man was taken in a personal vehicle to a nearby hospital, and fire officials learned later that he died, she said.

The powerful storm surged through the Caribbean earlier this week, at times as a powerful Category 5 hurricane, killing more than 400 people in Haiti and four in the Dominican Republic.