‘Catastrophic’ Hurricane Slams Jamaica with Fierce Winds, Rain

AFP/APP

Jamaica: Hurricane Melissa ripped up trees and knocked out power after making landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as one of the most powerful hurricanes on record, inundating the island nation with rains that threaten flash floods and landslides.

The destructive storm struck Jamaica with ferocious sustained winds clocking 185 miles (300 kilometers) per hour on its deadly march across the Caribbean.

“This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation!” warned the US National Hurricane Center, urging residents to stay sheltered and as far from windows as possible, including during the brief calm offered by the storm’s eye.

Even as wind speeds dipped to 150 miles per hour, Melissa drenched communities and wreaked damage that may take days to assess as communication links remained largely down.

Surges in seawater combined with rainfall — which will likely be measured in feet, not inches — could trigger massive floods and landslides on the island with a population of 2.8 million.

The hurricane was the worst ever to strike Jamaica and hit land with maximum wind speeds stronger than most of recent history’s most brutal storms, including 2005’s Katrina, which ravaged the US city of New Orleans.

Even before Melissa slammed into Jamaica, seven deaths — three in Jamaica, three in Haiti, and one in the Dominican Republic — had been blamed on deteriorating conditions.

Melissa, now downgraded from Category 5 to 4 as its center moved off Jamaica, was set to hit Cuba on Tuesday evening and then the Bahamas.

Jamaica’s climate change minister told CNN that Hurricane Melissa’s effect was “catastrophic,” citing flooded homes and “severely damaged public infrastructure” and hospitals.

And as if that weren’t enough, health authorities were urging vigilance against crocodiles displaced by the torrential storm.

“Rising water levels in rivers, gullies, and swamps could cause crocodiles to move into residential areas,” posted the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) in a public service announcement on Instagram.

Mathue Tapper, 31, told AFP from Kingston that those in the capital were “lucky” but feared for fellow Jamaicans in the island’s more rural areas.

“My heart goes out to the folks living on the western end of the island,” he said.

The mammoth storm could leave devastation on the scale of some of the worst hurricanes in recent memory, such as Katrina, Maria, or Harvey.