Hurricane Melissa strengthens to category 4 as evacuations ordered in Jamaica’s capital | Hurricanes
Hurricane Melissa strengthened into a strong category 4 hurricane on Sunday, threatening the northern Caribbean with catastrophic winds and rain for days; The Jamaican government has ordered mandatory evacuation for sensitive areas across the country, including the capital Kingston.
Jamaican authorities had previously urged residents of low-lying and flood-prone areas to seek shelter as Melissa climbed rapidly. Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale There is a possibility of intensifying to a category 5 storm on Monday.
At a press conference in Kingston on Sunday, Jamaican officials said both international airports were closed and 881 shelters were put into operation.
“Many of these communities will not survive the flooding,” local government minister Desmond McKenzie said. “Kingston’s situation is extremely low. No community in Kingston is immune.”
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness He later ordered mandatory evacuations for six other sensitive areas across the country, including Port Royal in Kingston and Old Harbor Bay.
Holness had previously said: “I urge Jamaicans to take this weather threat seriously. Take all precautions to protect yourself.”
Melissa was about 125 miles (205 km) south-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 310 miles (495 km) south-southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba, Sunday night. The US National Hurricane Center said maximum sustained winds were 230km/h (145mph) and moving west at 5mph (7km/h). It could reach category 5 strength on Monday, with winds greater than 250 km/h (157 mph).
Melissa was expected to dump up to 30 inches (76 cm) of rain over Jamaica and southern Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), according to the hurricane center. Some areas may see up to 40 inches (1 meter).
The combination of rapid concentration and too-rapid progress is a recipe for a devastating, record-breaking natural disaster, experts said. In increasingly dire updates, the hurricane center warned that major damage to infrastructure, power and communications outages and isolation of communities in Jamaica could be expected.
Some residents of the small fishing village of Port Royal, one of Jamaica’s most vulnerable and vulnerable communities, refused to follow official advice to leave their homes and hide in shelters.
Residents like 51-year-old Ann Marie Chamberlain decided to ride out the storm at home. He said he was confident the villagers had done everything necessary to avoid danger, adding: “Father God will protect us.”
Chamberlain, who is self-employed, said: “We know the danger and we know when we are in danger and at the moment we are not. All the boats have been towed, the roofs have been covered with zinc… we are taking the necessary precautions.”
“The real reason why we refused to leave Port Royal is because of an incident we had 21 years ago. We went to the shelter, it was fine the first night when it was just us, but then other people started coming and it got messy. The women were not safe and on top of that people stole our stuff. You’d go to sleep and when you woke up they’d steal your radio, your money and other belongings.” [were] gone.”
Marketing manager Derrick Powell, 42, echoed her sentiments. He said: “I have never been to a shelter, but those who live say they will never return.
“Everybody’s already getting ready, we know what it’s like. We’ve heard about Hurricane Charlie. I’ve been through Gilbert and all the other storms… We don’t have a creek or river that will blow its banks. If we get some water, maybe a few, but once the rain is over, it’ll go away.”
After leaving Jamaica, Melissa is expected to head towards Cuba late Tuesday, where it is expected to dump up to 300mm of rain, before moving towards the Bahamas late Wednesday.
The Cuban government issued a hurricane watch for Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo and Holguin provinces on Saturday.
The erratic and slow-moving storm killed at least three people in Haiti and one person in the Dominican Republic, where one person remains missing.
Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the hurricane center, said: “Unfortunately, the situation is becoming increasingly dire for locations along the projected path of this storm.” He said the storm will continue to move slowly for up to four days.
In Haiti, river levels have reportedly risen, flooding and a bridge collapsed due to breaches in river banks in Sainte-Suzanne in the northeast.
Ronald Délice, director of Haiti’s civil defense department, said: “The storm raises a lot of concerns regarding the way it moves.” Local authorities set up lines to distribute food kits. Many residents are still reluctant to leave their homes.
The storm damaged nearly 200 homes and disabled water supply systems in the Dominican Republic, affecting more than half a million people. It also toppled trees and traffic lights, triggered a series of small landslides and left more than two dozen communities isolated by floodwaters.
The Bahamas meteorological department said Melissa could bring tropical storm or hurricane conditions to the southeastern and central Bahamas and islands in the Turks and Caicos by early next week.
Melissa is the 13th storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had predicted an above-normal season with 13 to 18 storms.
Associated Press writer Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, contributed to this report.
