Hurricane Melissa is poised to strike Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm early Tuesday, set to go down in history as the strongest hurricane ever to make landfall on the island.
The storm was upgraded to the highest danger level on Monday as it bore down on the Caribbean nation, forcing the closure of all airports and shutting down parts of the capital.
Landfall is expected overnight, bringing apocalyptic conditions that could persist through Wednesday. The hurricane is predicted to destroy homes, wash away roads, and knock out power lines across the island.
“People choosing to ride out the storm in unsafe areas, or those who are unable to move out of harm’s way, will face great peril,” warned AccuWeather’s Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter.
“An extremely urgent humanitarian crisis may follow. The devastation from the electricity infrastructure alone may take months to repair. Food refrigeration and safe drinking water may not be available for an extended period,” he added.
The massive storm is sustaining winds of 160 mph, and as it crawls across Jamaica, it is expected to unleash up to 40 inches of rainfall before the worst conditions subside by Wednesday afternoon.
According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), storm surges could reach between 9 and 13 feet above normal tide levels, accompanied by massive, destructive waves.
The NHC has issued warnings of catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding for Jamaica, southern Haiti, and the Dominican Republic through the weekend. Dangerous swells are also expected to impact the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, and Bermuda later this week.
By the time the hurricane reaches Cuba on Wednesday morning, experts expect its winds to weaken slightly to 120 mph—still an extremely dangerous force—before it moves out into the Atlantic.
Parts of Florida may experience indirect effects from Melissa, including rip currents and hazardous sea conditions lasting through late next week. Meanwhile, the New York metro area is expected to remain untouched by the storm’s fury.
As of early Monday, Melissa was located approximately 135 miles southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 320 miles southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba, according to the NHC.
Mandatory evacuations have been ordered in seven Jamaican communities. The storm has already claimed four lives—three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic.
In Kingston, supermarket shelves were stripped bare as families braced to shelter in place.
Melissa is on track to shatter Jamaica’s previous weather record set in 1988, when Hurricane Gilbert—a Category 4 storm—hit the island with sustained winds of 130 mph.
“Hurricane Gilbert made landfall in 1988 as a Category 3 storm, moving much faster than Melissa is forecast to move when the eye reaches the southern coast of Jamaica,” Porter noted.
“Extreme impacts could last for hours in places in the path of the eyewall as the hurricane crosses the island,” he warned.
Source: nypost.com