Hurricane Melissa was strengthened to a major storm category 4, where it is possible to strengthen the category 5 Storm Sunday night, opening heavy rain and threatening to cause flooding in the northern Caribbean, including Haiti and Jamaican Center.
The weather agency added Melissa may have reached the Southern Coast of Jamaica as a major storm early in the morning or Tuesday morning, and urged people on the island to seek shelter immediately.
“I urge Jamaicans to take this climate change seriously,” said Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness. “Take every step to protect yourself.”
Melissa made landfall 180 kilometers (180 miles) southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 445 kilometers (275 miles) southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba, on Sunday morning. It had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 kph) and was moving west at 5 mph (5 kph), the hurricane center said.
Melissa is expected to dump heavy rains of up to 30 centimeters (760 millimeters) on Jamaica and South Hiplika – Haiti and the Dominican Republic – according to the Hurricane Center. Some areas could see up to 40 centimeters (1,010 millimeters) of rain.
It also warned that extensive damage to infrastructure, power outages and the isolation of communities in Jamaica were to be expected.
Melissa should be near or over Cuba by late Tuesday, where it could bring 12 centimeters (300 feet) of rain, before moving toward the Bahamas later Wednesday.
The Cuban government on Saturday afternoon issued a hurricane watch for the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and Holguin.
Airports are closed and curfews are activated
The low-level and slow-moving storm killed at least three people in Haiti and a fourth in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.
“Unfortunately in the areas that are in the path shown by this storm, it’s getting worse,” Jamie Rhome, Deputy Director of Communications, said before Saturday. He said the storm will continue to move slowly for up to four days.
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Jamaica’s government said the main airport in Montego Bay, Sangter International Airport, will close there in the afternoon local time as the Island’s National Engerm agency activated its level of emergency ahead of Melissa.
The largest airport on the island, Norman Manley International Airport in the capital, Kingston, closed at 9 pm local time on Saturday.
“With the slowness of this system, it doesn’t allow you to recover. It will sit there, pour water while moving a little and that is a big challenge that we have to be aware of,” warned Evan Thompson, executive director of the Jamaica service.
“There is no place that will escape the fury of this storm,” said Richard Thompson, executive director of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.
He said all members of the National Rectals alert team are now fully awake.
More than 650 shelters operated in Jamaica. Authorities said warehouses on the island were well stocked and thousands of food packages were pre-packaged for immediate distribution if needed.
Communities have been cut off from rising waters
Haitian authorities said three people died as a result of the storm and five others were injured due to a collapsed wall. There were reports of rising River levels, flooding and a bridge being destroyed due to breaching in Sainte-Suzanne, in the northeast. Any update on this? Not yet
Many residents are still reluctant to leave their homes, Haitian officials said.
The storm damaged about 200 homes in the Dominican Republic and knocked out water supply systems, affecting more than half a million customers. It also reduced trees and street lights, revealing the small colors of small countries and leaving communities more than two minutes separated by floods.
The Bahamas Department of Meteorology said Melissa could bring a tropical storm or tropical storm to the southeastern islands and central Bahamas to the Turks and Caicos Islands early next week.
Melissa is the 13th named hurricane 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 period with 13 to 18 named storms.
–Associated Press Writers John Myers Jr. was influenced by this report from Kingston.
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