‘Storm of the century’: record-breaking Hurricane Melissa hits Jamaica | Hurricane Melissa
Hurricane Melissa has arrived in Jamaica, where residents are bracing themselves for strong winds, massive floodwaters and mudslides resulting from the category 5 storm, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in history.
Videos and photos published by local newspapers painted a devastating portrait of the impact: The roads turned into raging riversdowned power lines and trees and The roofs of the buildings flew off with the power of the winds. “Hurricane Melissa wreaks havoc on Jamaica’s breadbasket neighborhood,” reported the Jamaica Observer reported From St Elizabeth in the southwest of the island.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness tweeted on Tuesday afternoon as the storm hit the region: “Our thoughts and prayers are with our citizens in that part of the island, and we reassure you that we will always be here for you, mobilizing support and assistance.”
The massive, slow-moving hurricane is the strongest to hit Jamaica since records began in 1851 and will linger over the island for hours before turning northeast.
American meteorologist Matthew Cappucci, who flew through the storm on Sunday, described the experience as “scientifically stunning and humanly terrifying.” “Millions of people could wake up Wednesday to devastation: shattered communities, an unrecognizable landscape and scars that will take decades to repair.” he wrote In the Washington Post.
In Portmore, a community on Jamaica’s southeast coast, Mercy Corps counselor Colin Bogle said he “woke up to a loud bang and everything went black.” “Outside, the trees are blowing violently in the wind and the noise is relentless,” he added.
The Jamaican government has warned of the serious impact on the country’s 2.8 million people and said it was doing all it could to prepare by ensuring mandatory evacuations of low-lying areas.
Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica’s disaster risk management council, urged people on Tuesday to seek shelter and stay home as the storm passes the island. “Jamaica is not the time to be brave,” he said.
Streets in the capital Kingston remained largely empty on Tuesday, with images showing trees bending under the influence of the wind.
“There is no infrastructure in the area that can withstand category 5,” Holness said. “The question now is the speed of recovery. That’s the challenge.”
Category 5 is the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with sustained winds exceeding 157mph (250km/h). The US National Hurricane Center reported that Melissa had a sustained wind speed of 298 km/h (185mph) and carried higher gusts.
“What is expected in Jamaica is a catastrophic situation,” Anne-Claire Fontan, a tropical cyclone expert at the World Meteorological Organization, said at a press conference in Geneva. “It will definitely be the storm of the century for Jamaica.”
Heavy rain knocked out power to some residents in Portland, St Thomas, St Andrew, St Elizabeth and Westmoreland, including popular tourist destinations such as Negril and Treasure Beach.
One area particularly badly affected by the storm was the Greater Manchester area, which faced days of heavy rain and high winds as the storm approached.
One resident, Emma Simms, 37, said she had built a makeshift shelter in a closet in her home, where she planned to move elsewhere with her one- and four-year-old children.
“I tried to make it nice and comfortable. It has snacks in it, it has water in it,” she said. “If it looks like the house won’t last, then I’ll go in there too. We’ll put a mattress on top and stay there.” [my children] happy until it passes. Try to make it fun and exciting.
Simms, a data analyst and transport consultant, moved to Jamaica from England six years ago and experienced its first Jamaican hurricane when Beryl devastated the country last summer. “I feel like this is already worse than Beryl and hasn’t touched down yet,” he said.
“I feel like there are people to protect and I need to keep it together. But my stomach feels different than it has the last few days. I can definitely feel the anxiety inside.”
Jonathan Porter, AccuWeather’s chief meteorologist, said Melissa will be the strongest hurricane to directly hit Jamaica in recorded history.
Landslides had been reported before the storm, and officials in Jamaica were warning that cleanup and damage assessment would be slow. Forecasters said the storm entered near the St. Elizabeth parish in the south and was expected to exit in the north.
“Complete structural failure is possible near Melissa’s center,” said the US National Hurricane Center, headquartered in Miami.
Life-threatening storm surge of up to 4 meters was expected in southern Jamaica, with authorities worried about the impact on some hospitals along the coastline. Health minister Christopher Tufton said some patients had been moved from the ground floor to the second floor. [we] “Hopefully this will be enough to offset any surge that occurs.”
The storm is thought to have killed seven people in the Caribbean, three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic.
Melissa is so unusually strong that the U.S. military said it was moving its forces, possibly consisting of ships and planes, to safer areas near the storm.
Climate scientists said the intensification of Hurricane Melissa — with winds doubling from 70 mph to 140 mph in just one day — was likely a symptom of the rapid warming of the world’s oceans that is part of the human-caused climate crisis.
Leanne Archer, research fellow in climatic extremes at the University of Bristol, said: “Perfect storm conditions have formed which have led to the massive strength of Hurricane Melissa: a warm ocean which has enabled it to intensify rapidly over the last few days, but it is also moving slowly, meaning more rain could fall as it moves over land.
“Many of these conditions are overloaded by the extra heat in our oceans and atmosphere due to climate change. A warmer ocean means more energy, more power, and more moisture in the warmer atmosphere means more rain can fall at higher intensities.”
Last year the world’s oceans hottest on recordRecord-breaking sea temperature continues its trend. And A study conducted in 2023 It found that Atlantic hurricanes are now twice as likely as before to rapidly intensify from small storms to powerful, devastating events.
After Jamaica, Melissa is expected to pass Cuba and the Bahamas on Wednesday.
The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday it would send solar lamps, blankets, indoor tents, generators and other items to Jamaica from its logistics center in Barbados as soon as the storm passes the island.
“Large numbers of people are likely to be displaced from their homes and need urgent shelter and assistance,” said Natasha Greaves, IOM Jamaica interim president.
