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Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica, strongest to hit island | Top points
The storm, the strongest possible one on the Saffir-Simpson scale, will likely cause flash flooding and landslides in its wake.
Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, and is expected to bring catastrophe being the worst storm to make landfall on the island since records were first kept 174 years ago.
The storm, the strongest possible one on the Saffir-Simpson scale, will likely cause flash flooding and landslides in its wake, the official said. It has sustained wind speeds of 180 mph.
"For Jamaica, it will be the storm of the century for sure," tropical cyclone specialist for the World Meteorological Organization, Anne-Claire Fontan, told Geneva press briefing. Fontan said a “catastrophic situation” could be expected in Jamaica.
Category 5 Hurricane Melissa to make landfall: Top points
• The storm hit Jamaica early Tuesday noon (local time) and is expected to cross eastern Cuba and move towards Bahamas and Turks and Caicos by Wednesday, the US National Hurricane Center said. “Total structural failure is possible near the path of Melissa’s center,” NHC said.
• Melissa is expected enter near St. Elizabeth parish in the south, and slice diagonally across Jamaica to exit around St. Ann parish in the north.
• The storm will have wind gusts of over 300 km per hour (186 miles per hour) and could bring widespread devastation to the island.
• Authorities have ordered mandatory evacuations ahead of the landfall of the storm. Life-threatening surges of up to four metres and rainfall exceeding 70 cm are expected, Fontan said, according to Reuters.
• The International Federation of the Red Cross has said that over 1.5 million people in Jamaica are expected to be directly affected by the storm. “Roofs will be tested, flood waters will rise, isolation will become a harsh reality for many,” IFRC's Necephor Mghendi told Reuters.
• More than 800 shelters have been set up for the evacuees, and essential items like tarpaulins, hygiene kits, blankets and safe drinking water have been arranged for in Red Cross branches on the island, Mghendi said.
• Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said that there is “no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5” storm. Holness ordered evacuations in parts of southern Jamaica, including the historic town of Port Royal.
• However, Holness said his government was as prepared as can be, and had kept an emergency response budget of $33 million and insurance and credit provisions for damage, according to the Reuters report.
• The United Nations' International Organization for Migration Tuesday said it is sending solar lamps, blankets, indoor tents, generators and other items from its logistic hub in Barbados to Jamaica, AP news agency reported.
• Meanwhile, non-profit organisation Direct Relief said it has two packages including enough medications to treat 3,000 people staged in Panama, ready to be deployed in Jamaica.
• Meanwhile, nearby Haiti and Dominican Republic have been witnessing torrential rainfall in the days leading up to the landfall. The rains have caused at least four deaths, authorities said. More than 500,000 people have been evacuated from vulnerable areas in Cuba.
