Destructive winds and catastrophic flooding are expected

He Hurricane Melissaformed as a tropical storm last Tuesday in the Caribbean Sea, has reached category 5according to the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC). The agency predicts destructive winds, storm surge and catastrophic floods that will affect the island of Jamaica during the day and until tonight.

The forecast is that Melissa will hit Jamaica as a hurricane this Monday and to Cuba and Bahamas on Tuesday or Wednesdayin addition to causing rain in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where a million people have already been left without water.

Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the NHC, said Sunday that the combination of a slow-moving system and abundant rainfall “will create a catastrophic event” in Jamaica, which is bracing for widespread power outages, communications disruptions and impassable roads.

Two people already died this weekend in Jamaica before Hurricane Melissa made landfall. Both died while trying to cut down trees, according to local authorities.

Jamaica has urged the entire population to take shelter in the almost 900 shelters spread throughout the country, providing assistance to those who wish to leave their homes. On Sunday night, Prime Minister Andrew Holness issued mandatory evacuation orders for Port Royal in Kingston and six other areas.

“Many of these communities will not survive these floods”declared Desmond McKenzie, Minister of Local Government, at a press conference. “Kingston is at a very low level…No community in Kingston is immune to flooding.”

Category 5 is the highest alert level according to the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale and includes winds exceeding 250 kilometers per hour. Melissa is the most powerful cyclone to hit the small Caribbean island in recent history.

News in update

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