Heavy floodwaters swept across southwestern Jamaica, winds tore roofs off buildings and boulders tumbled onto roads Tuesday as Hurricane Melissa came ashore as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.
Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Council, urged people to seek shelter and stay indoors as the storm crosses the island.
“Jamaica, this is not the time to be brave,” he said.
The Jamaican government said it had done all it could to prepare as it warned of devastating damage from the strongest hurricane to hit the island since recordkeeping began 174 years ago.
“There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said. “The question now is the speed of recovery. That’s the challenge.”
Landslides, fallen trees and numerous power outages were reported as Melissa came ashore near New Hope, with officials cautioning that the cleanup and damage assessment could be slow. The storm is expected head toward Cuba, where intermittent rain was falling.
Colin Bogle, a Mercy Corps adviser based near Kingston, said most families are sheltering in place despite the government ordering evacuations in flood-prone communities. He was sheltering with his grandmother in Portmore, where everything went dark earlier in the day after a loud explosion.
“The noise is relentless,” he said. “People are anxious and just trying to hold on until the storm passes.”
Massive wind damage is expected in Melissa’s core and Jamaica’s highest mountains could see gusts of up to 200 mph (322 kph), said Michael Brennan, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.
“It’s going to be a very dangerous scenario,” he said, warning that there would be “total building failures.”
Hurricane Melissa’s 185 mph (295 kph) winds and 892 millibars of central pressure tied two records for the strongest Atlantic storm on landfall. The pressure — the key measurement meteorologists use — ties 1935’s Labor Day hurricane in Florida. The wind speed ties the 1935 hurricane and 2019’s Hurricane Dorian, said hurricane scientists Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University and Brian McNoldy of the University of Miami.
“It’s been a remarkable just a beast of a storm,” Klotzbach told The Associated Press.
On Tuesday evening, Melissa had top sustained winds of 145 mph (230 kph) and was moving north-northeast at 8 mph (13 kph) as its center exited Jamaica and moved into the Caribbean Sea, according to the National Hurricane Center. The hurricane was centered about 15 miles (20 kilometers) east of Montego Bay, Jamaica, and about 200 miles (325 kilometers) southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba.
A life-threatening storm surge of up to 13 feet (4 meters) is expected across southern Jamaica, with officials concerned about the impact on some hospitals along the coast. Health Minister Christopher Tufton said some patients were relocated from the ground floor to the second floor, “and (we) hope that will suffice for any surge that will take place.”
One man called a radio station saying he urgently needed to help a woman in western Jamaica who had gone into labor as the storm neared landfall. The show’s host pleaded with listeners to let him know the safest hospital before an obstetrician called in to provide detailed directions on how to deliver a baby, if necessary.
In Kingston, officials warned residents of the surrounding area to watch out for crocodiles that might be displaced from their habitats by flooding. (AP)
