Hurricane Melissa has been upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane heading towards Jamaica and Cuba and is expected to bring catastrophic floods, landslides and storm surges to the region, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) has said.
Melissa was located about 505km south-southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba, packing maximum sustained winds of 260 kmh, NHC said.
“A slow turn toward the northwest and north is expected today and tonight, followed by a northeastward acceleration beginning on Tuesday and continuing through at least Thursday,” NHC said.
Melissa is expected to make landfall in Jamaica this evening or Tuesday morning.
It is likely to hit southeastern Cuba late tomorrow.
In Jamaica, authorities have implored residents to evacuate to nearly 900 shelters around the country, providing assistance to those wanting to leave.
Last night, Prime Minister Andrew Holness issued mandatory evacuation orders for Port Royal in Kingston and six other areas.
“Many of these communities will not survive this flooding,” Desmond McKenzie, minister of local government, said at a press conference earlier in the day.
“Kingston is low, extremely low … No community in Kingston is immune from flooding.”
A fallen light pole in St Catherine parish, near Portmore in Jamaica
Both international airports were closed.
Earlier yesterday, some residents were choosing to stay put, and authorities said some have refused to board evacuation buses.
“We are riding out the storm, we’re not going to go anywhere. Just sitting down and watch everything, make sure everything’s working good,” said Douglas Butler, a local boat captain in Port Royal.
“I just take things easy. As long as I have my food, I can eat. That is the most important thing.”
The NHC said Melissa is expected to bring 40 to 80 centimetres of rain to Jamaica and southern Hispaniola with a local maximum of up to 1 metre.
Eastern Cuba is expected to receive 25 to 40 centimetres, with local amounts of up to 50 centimetres.
Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica’s information minister, said the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency is ready to provide assistance, and several international partners have already pledged support.
“We’ve heard the rainfall numbers. They’re numbers we’ve never heard before,” Morris Dixon said.