Hurricane Tracker / Envato Market
by Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Staff
KINGSTON, JAMAICA (Worthy News) – The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned Sunday that Hurricane Melissa could intensify into a Category 5 hurricane before making landfall on Jamaica late Monday or early Tuesday.
The storm was already a Category 4 by Sunday morning, packing sustained winds of 140 mph (225 km/h) and moving slowly westward toward Jamaica’s southern coast at just 5 mph (8 km/h). The NHC projected that winds could reach 160 mph (257 km/h) by Monday morning.
Officials said the storm’s sluggish pace could worsen flooding. The center of the hurricane remained about 110 miles south of Kingston as of Sunday afternoon, but tropical-storm-force winds extended more than 170 miles from the eye.
“Jamaica: seek shelter now,” the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 a.m. advisory. “Damaging winds and heavy rainfall today and Monday will cause catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding and numerous landslides before potentially devastating winds arrive Monday night and Tuesday morning.”
Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared Jamaica a “threatened area” under the nation’s Disaster Risk Management Act on Friday, allowing the government to mobilize emergency resources and freeze prices on essential goods such as food, water, and medicine.
“By declaring Jamaica a threatened area, we are activating the legal tools to move resources quickly, safeguard critical services, and protect the most vulnerable,” Holness said in a statement.
The NHC also issued warnings for southern Hispaniola, including parts of Haiti’s Tiburon Peninsula, where flash flooding and landslides are expected through midweek. Portions of Cuba, the Bahamas, and Turks and Caicos are under alert as the storm is projected to track northeast across the region after crossing Jamaica.
Meteorologists warned that some parts of Jamaica and southern Hispaniola could receive 15 to 30 inches of rain, with isolated areas seeing up to 40 inches, leading to “extensive infrastructural damage, long-duration power and communication outages, and isolation of communities.”
Hurricane Melissa is expected to reach its peak strength Monday night before slightly weakening as it passes over land and moves toward Cuba and the Bahamas later in the week.
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