Credit: CSU/CIRA, NOAA and Windy.com
Jamaica has ordered the evacuation of its capital as it prepares for what is believed to be the most “catastrophic” hurricane in the island’s history.
The Category 5 storm, which will make landfall on Tuesday, has increased in strength as it moves toward the Caribbean nation, threatening torrential rains, deadly flooding and destructive winds of up to 175 mph.
Hurricane Melissa is the most powerful storm worldwide so far this year and one of the strongest ever recorded in the Atlantic.
At least three people have died and 13 have been injured in Jamaica bracing for the hurricane, Health and Wellness Minister Christopher Tufton said Monday night.
The three deaths occurred while felling trees. Two people died after trees fell on them and one person was electrocuted, the minister said.
The hurricane has also killed at least three people in Haiti and a fourth in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.
The center of Hurricane Melissa is forecast to pass over Jamaica on Tuesday, dumping up to a meter of rain in some parts, before hitting southeastern Cuba on Tuesday night and the Bahamas on Wednesday.
On Monday, the Jamaican government ordered the evacuation of seven low-lying cities and towns, including Kingston and Port Royal.
Andrew Holness, the prime minister of Jamaica, said: “I have been on my knees in prayer.”
Holness told CNN that if the hurricane makes landfall, recovery efforts will require “many more resources than Jamaica has to recover” and that he anticipates “significant damage to our road infrastructure, bridges, drains and possible damage to ports and airports.”
The US National Hurricane Center said the storm was rapidly intensifying on Sunday night and called on Jamaicans to “seek shelter now”, warning of “catastrophic and life-threatening” flash flooding, landslides and storm surge.
Melissa was upgraded to Category 5 on Monday, the highest on the scale, and will become the strongest hurricane Jamaica, home to 2.8 million people, has experienced in decades, causing billions in damage and destruction.
‘Don’t play with Melissa’
“I want to urge Jamaicans to take this seriously,” said Desmond McKenzie, vice-chairman of the island’s Disaster Risk Management Council. “Don’t bet with Melissa. It’s not a safe bet.”
“Many of these communities will not survive these floods,” he said at a news conference. “Kingston is low, extremely low… No community in Kingston is immune from flooding.”
Palm trees shake in the wind as the country braces for severe storms and flooding – Octavio Jones/Reuters
In Kingston, residents spent the weekend trying to fortify their homes, buying sandbags and preparing to move to shelters further inland.
“Don’t make stupid decisions,” warned Daryl Vaz, Jamaica’s transport minister. “We are in a very, very serious moment in the coming days.”
Jamaican authorities were concerned that residents were avoiding hurricane shelters, noting that there were fewer than 1,000 people in the island’s 880 shelters.
“It’s far, far below what is required for a Category 5 hurricane,” said Daryl Vaz, Jamaica’s transportation minister.
“If you are not (intelligent), unfortunately you will pay the consequences,” he warned.
Women sit in a shelter at a primary school in Kingston, Jamaica, on Monday – RICARDO MAKYN/AFP
Experts warn that the storm is a worst-case scenario, as Melissa’s slow progress through the region will subject places in its path to longer periods of rain, winds and increased storm surge.
Melissa is likely to cause a life-threatening storm surge off the southern coast of Jamaica, peaking at about 4 meters (13 feet) above ground level, near where the center of Melissa makes landfall.
The Foreign Office has urged British citizens to head to their nearest hurricane shelter, amid news that Melissa had become the most powerful storm of the year.
Yvette Cooper, the foreign minister, said she had spoken to her Jamaican counterpart, Kamina Smith, to “offer our support” and was monitoring the path of the hurricane.
The US Embassy in Jamaica has advised US citizens to be prepared to shelter in place during the “dangerous storm.”
Workers in the capital board up shop windows in anticipation of the hurricane that hits the city – Matias Delacroix/AP
Evan Thompson, senior director of Jamaica’s meteorological service, warned that cleanup and damage assessment would be severely delayed by expected landslides, flooding and blocked roads.
Towns and cities may be left without power or communications for days after the storm passes.
Melissa has already wreaked havoc in the Dominican Republic, where it damaged more than 750 homes across the country, displacing more than 3,760 people.
The flooding has also cut off access to at least 48 communities, officials said.
Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, warned that Jamaica could very quickly face a “true humanitarian crisis.”
“A lot of international support is likely to be needed,” he added.
Hurricane Melissa has strengthened into a Category 5 storm, previously photographed in stage four – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
In neighboring Haiti, the storm destroyed crops in three regions at a time when 5.7 million people, more than half the country’s population, are experiencing critical levels of hunger.
“Floods are obstructing access to agricultural land and markets, endangering crops and the winter agricultural season,” the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said.
Melissa was expected to continue dumping torrential rain on southern Haiti and the southern Dominican Republic in the coming days.
The hurricane is unlikely to affect the United States, however its Navy ordered the evacuation of all non-essential personnel from its base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba over the weekend.
The United States has a large naval presence near the Caribbean as the Trump administration wages a war against drug traffickers, attacking suspected drug vessels off the coast of Venezuela.