Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared Jamaica a “disaster zone” after Hurricane Melissa devastated the Caribbean island as one of the most powerful storms ever recorded, leaving behind a trail of devastation.
The hurricane, which made landfall Tuesday as a Category 5 storm, tore roofs off homes, flooded the country’s “breadbasket” and toppled power lines and trees, leaving most of its 2.8 million residents without power.
It took hours for Melissa to cross Jamaica, a land pass that slowed its winds, reducing it to a Category 3 storm, before it picked up again as it moved. continued on Wednesday to Cuba.
Holness said in a series of posts on X that the storm has “devastated” his country and that the disaster declaration gives his government “tools to continue managing” its response to the storm.
“It is clear that where the eye of the hurricane hits, there will be a devastating impact,” he told the US news channel CNN late on Tuesday. “The reports we have received so far include damage to hospitals, significant damage to residential properties, homes and commercial properties, and damage to our road infrastructure.”
Holness said he does not have any confirmed reports of deaths at this time. “But with a Category 5 hurricane… we expect some loss of life,” he added.
The prime minister said his government was moving quickly to begin relief and recovery efforts on Wednesday morning.
Even before Melissa hit Jamaica, the hurricane caused seven deaths (three in Jamaica, three in Haiti, and one in the Dominican Republic).
Desmond McKenzie, Jamaica’s local government minister, told reporters on Tuesday night that the storm had caused damage in almost every parish in the country and left most of the island without power.
He said the storm had left St. Elizabeth Parish, the country’s main agricultural region, “underwater.”
“The damage to St. Elizabeth is extensive, from what we have seen,” the minister said, adding that “almost all parishes are experiencing blocked roads, downed trees and utility poles, and excessive flooding in many communities.”
“Work is currently underway to restore our service, to prioritize critical facilities, such as hospitals and water and pumping stations,” he added.
The storm caused “significant damage” to at least four hospitals, Health and Wellness Minister Christopher Tufton told the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper.
‘Monstrous Melissa’
Robian Williams, a journalist at Nationwide News Network radio station in Kingston, told Al Jazeera that the storm was “the worst we have ever experienced.”
“It’s really heartbreaking, devastating,” he said from the capital.
“Here in Jamaica we call Hurricane Melissa ‘Monstrous Melissa’ because that’s how powerful it was… The devastation is widespread and is and continues to be felt primarily in the western end of the country at the moment. So many homes, so many people have been displaced,” he said.
“We prepared, but there wasn’t much we could have done.”
In Kingston, Lisa Sangster, a 30-year-old communications specialist, said her home was devastated by the storm.
“My sister… explained that parts of our roof blew off and others collapsed and the whole house flooded,” he told the AFP news agency. “Outside structures such as our outdoor kitchen, dog kennel and farm animal pens were also gone and destroyed.”
Mathue Tapper, 31, told AFP that residents of the capital were “lucky” but he feared for people in more rural areas of Jamaica.
“My heart goes out to the people who live on the western end of the island,” he said.
Melissa gets stronger
The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned Tuesday night that Melissa was strengthening as it approached eastern Cuba.
“It is expected to make landfall there as an extremely dangerous large-magnitude hurricane in the coming hours,” the center warned at 11:00 p.m. Cuba time on Tuesday (03:00 GMT Wednesday).
Cuban authorities have evacuated more than 700,000 people, according to Granma, the official newspaper, and forecasters said the Category 4 storm would trigger catastrophic damage in Santiago de Cuba and nearby areas.
A hurricane warning was in effect for the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Holguín and Las Tunas, as well as for the southeast and center of the Bahamas. A hurricane watch was in effect for Bermuda.
The storm was expected to generate a storm surge of up to 3.6 meters (12 feet) in the region and drop up to 51 centimeters (20 inches) of rain in parts of eastern Cuba.
“There will be a lot of work to do. We know there will be a lot of damage,” said President Miguel Díaz-Canel in a televised speech in which he assured that “no one is left behind and no resources are spared to protect the lives of the population.”
At the same time, he urged Cubans not to underestimate the power of Hurricane Melissa, “the strongest that has ever hit the national territory.”
Climate change
Although Jamaica and Cuba are used to hurricanes, climate change It’s making storms more severe.
British-Jamaican author and climate change activist Mikaela Loach said in a video shared on social media that Melissa “gained energy from the extremely and unnaturally hot seas in the Caribbean.”
“These sea temperatures are not natural,” Loach said. “They are extremely hot because of the gases that result from the burning of fossil fuels.”
“Countries like Jamaica, countries that are most vulnerable to climate disaster, are also countries that have been stripped of their wealth and resources through colonial slavery,” Loach added.
In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in September, Holness urged rich countries to increase climate finance to help countries like Jamaica adapt to the effects of a warming world.
“Climate change is neither a distant threat nor an academic consideration. It is an everyday reality for small island developing states like Jamaica,” he said.
Jamaica is responsible for just 0.02 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, which cause global warming, according to data from the World Resources Institute.
But like other tropical islands, it is expected to continue to bear the brunt of worsening climate effects.