It will soon hit Jamaica in a rare category 5, which puts all authorities on high alert. Hurricane Melissa could be brutally destructive
Melissa rapidly intensified over the weekend and is now a rare Category 5 hurricane with winds of 160 miles per hour. The United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicts that the hurricane will hit Jamaica this Tuesday morning (during the afternoon in Portugal), being the strongest hurricane on record to hit the island.
The center of the hurricane is located about 210 kilometers south of Kingston, Jamaica, and the storm is moving west at less than three miles per hour.
“Do not venture out of your safe shelter”, warned the NHC this Monday morning. “Catastrophic and potentially fatal flooding and numerous landslides are likely today through Tuesday. Destructive winds, especially in the mountains, will begin to blow this evening, causing extensive damage to infrastructure, long-term power and communications outages, and isolated communities.”
Tropical storm conditions are already underway in Jamaica and hurricane conditions will arrive tonight and early Tuesday as Melissa approaches the coast.
The Jamaican government issued mandatory evacuation orders Sunday night for several vulnerable coastal communities, including parts of Kingston, as Melissa intensifies its approach to the Caribbean nation.
“The storm is expected to emerge primarily on the south side of the island, east of the center, as it approaches the south coast and begins to make an impact,” said Evan Thompson, principal director of the Jamaica Meteorological Service, on Sunday.
A hurricane warning is in effect for Jamaica, where hurricane conditions are expected as early as Monday night. Cuba also issued a hurricane warning for the eastern provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo and Holguin. A tropical storm warning was issued for much of Haiti, and the Bahamian government issued a hurricane warning for the central and southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Melissa has been moving at a snail’s pace for days and won’t be picking up speed anytime soon as it heads generally west.
This slow movement has already caused problems. Torrential rains have been ravaging Haiti and the Dominican Republic in recent days, causing floods and triggering landslides. At least three deaths were recorded in Haiti due to the storm, two of which were the result of a landslide, Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency said in a statement. In the Dominican Republic, at least one person died and more than a thousand people were evacuated or displaced, authorities said on Friday.
Melissa doubled its strength over the weekend as it experienced extremely rapid intensification over exceptionally warm waters in the Caribbean.
This explosive reinforcement is happening more frequently as the world warms due to pollution from fossil fuels. Three of this season’s four Atlantic hurricanes experienced extremely rapid intensification: Erin, Gabrielle, and Humberto.
Melissa’s extreme threats
Jamaica, Haiti and the southern Dominican Republic will face the worst of the storm until Tuesday. The next to be hit by strong winds, storms and torrential rain will be eastern Cuba, the southern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Rainfall totals of up to 76 centimeters from Melissa are expected in parts of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica through Wednesday, with local maximums of 101 centimeters. Eastern Cuba could receive totals of up to 50 centimeters.
Not only will Jamaica face torrential rain from Melissa, it will also have to face days of ferocious winds. The most extreme winds will likely occur when Melissa passes over Jamaica Monday night into Tuesday. Downed trees, power outages and structural damage could be widespread.
Winds on the windward side of hills and mountains could be 30% stronger than those recorded in lower areas, the hurricane center warned.
The country’s authorities are already preparing for the worst. All public hospitals have been in “emergency mode” since Thursday night, suspending outpatient and elective procedures to ensure more beds are available, according to Christopher Tufton, Jamaica’s Minister of Health and Wellbeing.
Emergency shelters have been “activated” across the country for people living in vulnerable areas, Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie said at a press conference on Sunday.
Jamaica’s airports are closing. Norman Manley International Airport closed after the last scheduled flight arrived at 8pm local time (five hours less than in mainland Portugal) on Saturday night, according to Daryl Vaz, Minister of Transport.
Sangster International Airport also closed on Sunday, Vaz added.
“There is no place that can escape the fury of this hurricane,” warned Thompson of the Jamaica Weather Service on Saturday. “It will stay there, spilling water while barely moving and that is a significant challenge… as long as what is predicted happens.”
Maximum storm heights could reach 2.7 to 4 meters above ground level, near and east of where Melissa’s center will enter. The storm surge will also be accompanied by large, destructive waves.
“Now is the time to protect your home, check the roof, windows and surroundings. Use sandbags or plywood where necessary and safely clear any overhanging branches,” Prime Minister Holness wrote in X. “If you live in an area prone to flooding, take protective measures and have an evacuation plan ready.”
Jamaicans who spoke to Reuters on Saturday acknowledged the danger of a slow-moving hurricane, contrasting Melissa’s slow pace with that of Hurricane Beryl.
“Slow movement still does a lot of damage, right?” said fisherman Clive Davis in Kingston. “Unlike Beryl, because Beryls come at a speed and never stay long. They just pass by. But now you want to stay, visit Jamaica for three days, why?”
“It will slow down business, but that’s nature,” Davis added. “We can’t fight nature, right?”
On Saturday, Kingston workers dredged as much trash and silt as they could from the bottom of Sandy Gully, a roughly 20-kilometer-long waterway that snakes along the city’s western flank. When Melissa brings its months of rain as it passes through Jamaica, the swollen, debris-filled ravine could collapse bridges, splitting Kingston in two.
The continental United States is not expected to be directly threatened by Melissa. Still, rough seas and rip currents could spread along the U.S. East Coast next week.
Hurricane Beryl in July 2024 was the last storm to heavily affect Jamaica. It did not reach the coast, but it still devastated the island with torrential rain and strong winds as it passed to the south as category 4.
CNN meteorologists Briana Waxman, Mary Gilbert and Linda Lam as well as reporters Billy Stockwell and Max Saltman contributed to this story
