Hurricane Melissa to hit Jamaica as catastrophic Category 5 storm

Hurricane Melissa is said to be one of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the planet. Hurricane Melissa, which is set to pummelled Jamaica on Tuesday as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, will lash the island with sheer force, making record-keeping that began 174 years ago.

Moreover, the storm was expected to make landfall early Tuesday and slice diagonally across the island, entering near St Elizabeth parish in the south and exiting around St Ann parish in the north, forecasters said.

As reported by news agency AP, hours before the storm, the government said it had done all it could to prepare, as it warned of catastrophic damage.

While speaking about Hurricane Melissa that could cause severe infrastructural damage to the island, the Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said, “There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5 hurricane. The question now is the speed of recovery. That`s the challenge,” as cited by news agency AP. 

Furthermore, landslides, fallen trees and numerous power outages have already been reported ahead of the storm, with officials in Jamaica cautioning that the cleanup and damage assessment would be slow.

A life-threatening storm surge of up to 4 metres is expected across southern Jamaica, with officials concerned about the impact on some hospitals along the coastline.

Health Minister Christopher Tufton said some patients were relocated from the ground floor to the second floor, "and (we) hope that will suffice for any surge that will take place,” as per AP. 

The storm was already blamed for seven deaths in the Caribbean, including three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.

Jamaica braces for catastrophic damage

Melissa was centred about 240 kilometres southwest of Kingston and about 530 kilometres southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba. The system had maximum sustained winds of 280 kph and was moving north-northeast at 4 kph, according to the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami.

The principal director at Jamaica`s meteorological service said that, “We will get through it together.”

Also, the Mercy Corps advisor based near Kingston asserted that most families are sheltering in place despite the government ordering evacuations in flood-prone communities.

“Many have never experienced anything like this before, and the uncertainty is frightening,” he added, as per AP. 

Jamaica`s water and environment minister, Matthew Samuda, said that we have more than 50 generators available to deploy after the storm, but warned people to set aside clean water and use it sparingly.

(With inputs from AP)