Powerful Hurricane Melissa Strengthens as It Heads for Jamaica

AFP/APP

Jamaica: Hurricane Melissa, already a powerful Category 4 storm, gathered strength Sunday as it took aim at Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean. Forecasters warned of catastrophic flooding and urged residents to seek shelter immediately.

Melissa has already been blamed for at least four deaths in Haiti and the Dominican Republic this week, as its outer bands brought heavy rains and landslides.

The storm is moving at a slow pace — just five miles (seven kilometers) per hour — meaning areas in its path could face punishing conditions for longer periods than a typical fast-moving hurricane.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Melissa was packing maximum sustained winds of about 145 miles (230 kilometers) per hour and was likely to intensify into a top-level Category 5 storm later Sunday.

Up to 40 inches (about one meter) of rainfall could hit parts of Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, triggering flash floods and landslides.

“This extreme rainfall potential, owing to the slow motion, is going to create a catastrophic event here for Jamaica,” said NHC Deputy Director Jamie Rhome in a webcast briefing.

“You need to just be wherever you’re going to be and be ready to ride this out for several days. Conditions will deteriorate really, really rapidly here in the next few hours. Don’t be out and about after sunset.”

In the Dominican Republic, officials reported that a 79-year-old man was found dead after being swept away in a stream, while a 13-year-old boy remained missing.

In neighboring Haiti, the civil protection agency confirmed the deaths of three people linked to storm conditions.

“You feel powerless, unable to do anything, just run away and leave everything behind,” said Angelita Francisco, a 66-year-old homemaker who fled her neighborhood in the Dominican Republic.

Floodwater had inundated her house, she said, causing her refrigerator to float away as trash and debris bobbed around her home.