Hurricane Melissa live updates: storm strengthens again to category 4 as it nears Cuba; ‘extensive’ damage in parts of Jamaica | Hurricane Melissa
important events
Jamaican government downgrades warning from ‘Hurricane’ to ‘Tropical Storm’
Latest status from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) 23:00 ET update He said the Jamaican government had replaced the “Hurricane Warning” with a “Tropical Storm Warning”.
Harmful winds are expected to gradually decrease in Jamaica, but the NHC has advised locals to “stay safe in shelter until sunrise.”
Rohan Brown of the Jamaica Meteorological Service warned that Melissa’s counterclockwise rotation as it moved away from the coast would bring a severe storm surge to northern Jamaica overnight.
NHC warns Melissa ‘re-strengthening’ as category 4 approaches Cuba
Latest 23:00 ET tip The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned that Melissa was “re-strengthening as it approaches eastern Cuba.”
The hurricane is expected to make landfall “as an extremely dangerous, major hurricane within the next few hours.”
“Residents living in the warning area in Cuba should immediately seek safe shelter.”
The NHC warned the Bahamas that “preparations to protect life and property must be completed expeditiously.”
Although Melissa was briefly downgraded to a category 3 hurricane, it has officially been upgraded to a category 4 hurricane, according to the NHC.
Tornado warnings are in effect for:
-
Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Holguin and Las Tunas provinces of Cuba
-
Southeastern and Central Bahamas
A hurricane watch, usually issued 48 hours before the first expected occurrence of tropical storm-force winds, applies to:
Tropical storm warnings are in effect for:
We will bring you the latest NHC update when it is released in about an hour.
If you’re just joining us, here’s our full story about what’s happened so far:
Welcome summary
Welcome to our live coverage of Hurricane Melissa as it moves through the Caribbean.
Melissa is heading to Santiago de Cuba, Cuba’s second largest city. After reaching neighboring Jamaica as the strongest hurricane to hit the Caribbean island nation.
The hurricane roared ashore near Jamaica’s southwestern town of New Hope, packing sustained winds of up to 185mph (295km/h), well above the 157mph (252km/h) minimum wind speed of a Category 5 storm, the highest on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale, according to the US National Hurricane Center.
In southwestern Jamaica, the parish of St Elizabeth was “flooded” and more than 500,000 residents were left without power, an official said.
“The reports we have received so far include damage to hospitals, significant damage to residences, residences and commercial properties, and damage to our road infrastructure,” Jamaican prime minister Andrew Holness told CNN after the storm passed.
Melissa weakened to a Category 3 storm but has since strengthened to a Category 4 as it approached the Cuban coast. Authorities said they evacuated nearly 500,000 people from areas vulnerable to wind and flooding.
Here are the important developments:
-
Hurricane Melissa reached Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane on Tuesday. like that It is the strongest storm to hit the island since records began in 1851. The storm lost some strength as it crossed Jamaica’s mountainous terrain, but remains a strong Category 4 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.
-
The hurricane is currently heading towards Cuba. It could make a second landing there as early as midnight, bringing winds of 140 to 145 mph.
-
Cuba’s president warned citizens that the storm could be “the strongest or possibly one of the strongest storms” to hit the island. Miguel Díaz-Canel said, “We want to emphasize the magnitude of this event,” and called on Cubans not to return home from shelters.
-
Desmond McKenzie, The deputy chairman of the Jamaica Disaster Risk Management Council said the southwestern area of St Elizabeth was “under water” and had suffered extensive damage.
-
Aid agencies and disaster relief organizations are preparing to take action. They will quickly begin operations in Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean once weather conditions improve enough to do so safely. The Red Cross said it expects approximately 1.5 million people to be directly affected by what will be the worst disaster in Jamaica’s history.
-
The extraordinary intensification of Hurricane Melissa will likely be a symptom of the rapid warming of the world’s oceans. Melissa became the fourth storm in the Atlantic this year to rapidly intensify in wind speed and strength. Such concentration is linked to the human-caused climate crisis that is causing the oceans to warm further.
