KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Hurricane Melissa roared toward Jamaica with destructive Category 4 winds Monday and was expected to strengthen further before making landfall on the Caribbean nation with up to 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rain and a life-threatening storm surge.
Some local areas of eastern Jamaica could get 40 inches (1 meter) of rain while western Haiti could get 16 inches (40 centimeters), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. “Catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides are likely,” it warned.
Melissa’s center was forecast to move over Jamaica on Tuesday, across southeast Cuba on Tuesday night and across the southeast Bahamas on Wednesday.
The slow-moving storm has killed at least three people in Haiti and a fourth person in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.
Melissa was centered about 125 miles (205 kilometers) south-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 310 miles (495 kilometers) south-southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba, on Sunday night. It had maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (230 kph) and was moving west at 5 mph (7 kph), the hurricane center said. It could reach Category 5 strength Monday with winds greater than 157 mph (250 kph).
“I want to urge Jamaicans to take this seriously,” said Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of the island’s Disaster Risk Management Council. “Do not gamble with Melissa. It’s not a safe bet.”
The hurricane was expected to make another landfall later Tuesday in eastern Cuba. A hurricane warning was in effect for Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo and Holguin provinces, while a tropical storm warning was in effect for Las Tunas. Up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain were forecast for parts of Cuba, along with a significant storm surge along the coast.
A record storm for Jamaica
Melissa could be the strongest hurricane Jamaica has experienced in decades, said Evan Thompson, principal director at Jamaica’s meteorological service.
He warned that cleanup and damage assessment would be severely delayed because of anticipated landslides, flooding and blocked roads.
Melissa could become the first Category 4 hurricane to make landfall in Jamaica in recent history, Thompson said. Gilbert was a Category 3 hurricane when it hit the island in 1988 and two recent Category 4 storms, Ivan and Beryl, did not make landfall, Thompson said.
In addition to the rainfall, Melissa is likely to cause a life-threatening storm surge on Jamaica’s southern coast, peaking around 13 feet (4 meters) above ground level, near and to the east of where the center of Melissa makes landfall, the U.S. center said.
“Don’t make foolish decisions,” warned Daryl Vaz, Jamaica’s transport minister. “We are in a very, very serious time over the next few days.”
A hit on Hispaniola
The storm already has dropped heavy rain in the Dominican Republic, where schools and government offices were ordered to remain closed on Monday in four of nine provinces still under red alert.
Melissa damaged more than 750 homes across the country, displacing more than 3,760 people. Floodwaters also have cut access to at least 48 communities, officials said.
In neighboring Haiti, the storm destroyed crops in three regions, including 15 hectares (37 acres) of maize at a time when at least 5.7 million people, more than half of the country’s population, is experiencing crisis levels of hunger, with 1.9 million of those facing emergency levels of hunger.
“Flooding is obstructing access to farmland and markets, jeopardizing harvests and the winter agricultural season,” the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization said.
Melissa was expected to keep dumping torrential rain over southern Haiti and the southern Dominican Republic in upcoming days.
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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
