Hurricane Melissa was strengthened to a major storm category 4, where it is possible to strengthen the storm 5 Sunday night, opened heavy rain in the northern Caribbean, including Haiti and Jamaican Center (NHC).
The weather agency said Melissa could make landfall on Jamaica’s south coast as a major storm late Monday or Tuesday morning, and urged people on the island to seek shelter immediately.
“Conditions [in Jamaica] He will come down soon today, “Jamie Rom, Deputy Vice President of NHC, said the Deputy.” Prepare to ride this for several days. “
Melissa was centered 180 kilometers southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and 445 kilometers southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba, on Sunday morning. It had maximum sustained winds of 220 km/h and moved west at 5 km/h, the NHC said.
The storm is expected to drop heavy rains of up to 76 centimeters in Jamaica and South Paniola – Haiti and the Dominican Republic – according to the Hurricane Center. Some areas could see up to 100 inches of rain.
It also warned that extensive damage to infrastructure, power outages and the isolation of communities in Jamaica was to be expected.
Melissa should be near or over Cuba by late Tuesday, where it could bring 30 inches of rain, before moving to the Bahamas later Wednesday.
The NHC said on Sunday that the hurricane watch for Cuba could be upgraded to a warning later on Sunday.
Airports are closed, work
The low-level and slow-moving storm killed at least three people in Haiti and a fourth in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.
The Jamaican government said Sangster International Airport, the main airport in Montego Bay, will close daily local time as Jamaica’s national emergency service has activated a Level 3 Emergency Contocol ahead of Melissa.
The largest airport on the island, Norman Manley International Airport in the capital, Kingston, closed at 9 PM on Saturday.
“With the slowness of this process, it doesn’t allow you to recover. It will stay there, pour water while it is slow, and we have to know that,” warned Evan Thompson, executive director of the Jamaica service.
“There is no place that will escape the fury of this storm,” Richard Thompson, acting director of the state’s office of disaster preparedness and emergency management, said. All members of the national response team are now fully aware, he said.
More than 650 shelters have been operated in Jamaica. Authorities said warehouses on the island were well stocked and thousands of food packages were set aside for quick distribution if needed.
Communities have been cut off from rising waters
Haitian authorities said three people died as a result of the storm and five others were injured due to a collapsed wall. There were reports of rising River levels, flooding and a bridge being destroyed due to breaching in Sainte-Suzanne, in the northeast.
Many residents are still reluctant to leave their homes, Haitian officials said.
The storm damaged about 200 homes in the Dominican Republic and knocked out water supply systems, affecting more than half a million customers. It also reduced trees and street lights, revealing the small colors of small countries and leaving communities more than two minutes separated by floods.
The Bahamas Department of Meteorology said Melissa could bring a tropical storm or hurricane to the southeastern islands and the central Bahamas and the Caicos, as well as next week.
Melissa is the 13th named hurricane of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had predicted an above-normal period with 13 to 18 named storms.
