Tropical Storm Melissa kills elderly man in Haiti as chill hits Caribbean

Tropical storm Melissa is tied to the Caribbean Sea on Thursday, bringing the risk of dangerous landslides and life-threatening floods to Jamaica and South Spaniola – an island shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

The storm was blamed for the downing of a large tree that killed an elderly person in the coastal town of Marigot in southern Haiti, while five other people were injured in flooding in the center of the city, according to the Civil Protect agency.

Authorities urged residents in landslide-prone areas to seek higher ground.

The slow-moving storm was centered 345 kilometers southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and 440 kilometers southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It had maximum sustained winds of 80 km/h and was moving northwest at 7 km/h, the US National Hurricane Center in Miami.

A hurricane watch was in effect for Jamaica and the southwestern peninsula of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic at Port-au-Prince. A tropical storm warning was in effect for Jamaica.

“The storm has been creeping and moving erratically,” the agency said.

‘Recipe for disaster’

Melissa is expected to stay over open water but approach Jamaica and Southwest Haiti later this week. It is expected to intensify late Friday and into the weekend.

“The very warm water and slow movement of this storm is a recipe for disaster,” said Alex Dasilva, accuweather’s lead expert. “Rapid intensification into a category 5 hurricane is not out of the question.”

Barbara Campbell, who works in Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, said by phone that she had repaired her home and bought food and water before the storm.

“I’m very worried,” she said.

In Jamaica, officials said 881 shelters will be available as needed. The courts ordered that it be closed and schools would switch to remote sections on Thursday. At that time, groups placed 1,000 sandnags in the eastern part of Kingston to prevent flooding from the nearby gully.

“Our main focus is to prepare for the worst possible damage,” said Labor Minister Roberto Morgan.

Evan Thompson, director of Jamaica’s weather service, said the region of the East Coast was seeing 30 percent of rain. “Now that’s a lot of rain, and that’s the main thing we have to think about at this time,” he said.

Many people are in quarantine in the Dominican Republic, and schools, businesses and government agencies are closed in at least nine provinces. A number of water supply systems were out of service on Wednesday, affecting more than 500,000 customers.

“People must stay in their homes for safety reasons,” said Juan Manel Méndez García, Director of Emergency Situations.

Similar amounts of rain are expected in Southern Haiti and the Southern Dominican Republic through Saturday, with even more localized rain following Melissa’s path later in the week. Heavy rain was also forecast for western Jamaica, South Southern Hispaniola, Aruba and Puerto Rico.

SPRACKS STACTI storm

People were concerned about the storm’s impact on Haiti, which has seen past hurricanes given full effect. Gang violence, poverty and weak governance mean storm surges are limited.

The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs, or Ocha, announced on Thursday that $4 million US had been set aside to help more than 10,000 people in danger in Haiti before the storm. The money will go through lifesaving support, money transfers, management of emergency payments and water, sanitation and hygiene kits, said the agency.

Melissa is the 13th named Atlantic hurricane season, and the first of the Storms to form in the Caribbean this year.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had predicted an above-normal period with 13 to 18 named storms. Of those, five to nine were predicted to be hurricanes, including two to five hurricanes, packing winds of 178 km / h or more.

The Atlantic Hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30.