{"id":328400,"date":"2025-10-24T05:58:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T05:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/328400\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T05:58:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T05:58:10","slug":"tropical-storm-melissa-brings-flood-risk-to-jamaica-and-hispaniola","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/328400\/","title":{"rendered":"Tropical Storm Melissa brings flood risk to Jamaica and Hispaniola"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) \u2014 Tropical Storm Melissa<\/a> lumbered through the Caribbean Sea on Thursday, bringing a risk of dangerous landslides and life-threatening flooding to Jamaica and southern Hispaniola \u2014 an island shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti<\/a>. Officials urged residents in flood-prone areas to seek higher ground.<\/p>\n

The storm was blamed for downing a large tree that killed an elderly man in the coastal town of Marigot in southern Haiti, while five other people were injured in flooding in the central Artibonite area, according to the Civil Protection Agency. <\/p>\n

The slow-moving storm was centered about 150 miles (245 kilometers) southeast of Kingston, Jamaica<\/a>, and about 270 miles (430 kilometers) southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) and was moving north at 3 mph (6 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.<\/p>\n

A hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning were in effect for Jamaica and the southwestern peninsula of Haiti.<\/p>\n

The center warned that \u201ccatastrophic flash flooding and landslides\u201d are anticipated in southern Haiti.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe system is still moving very slowly,\u201d said Michael Brennan, the center\u2019s director. \u201cWe are very concerned about the potential for multiple days of long duration wind, storm surge, heavy rainfall and flooding impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018A recipe for disaster\u2019<\/p>\n

Melissa was expected to remain over open water this week, but move closer to Jamaica and southwestern Haiti in upcoming days. It was expected to strengthen into a hurricane by Saturday and become a major hurricane by the end of the weekend, possibly reaching Category 4 status by Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Hurricane conditions are possible within southern Haiti and across all of Jamaica starting late Friday or Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe very warm waters and slow movement of this storm are a recipe for disaster,\u201d said Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather\u2019s lead hurricane expert. \u201cRapid intensification into a Category 5 hurricane is not out of the question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barbara Campbell, who works in Kingston, Jamaica\u2019s capital, said by phone that she has prepared her home and bought food and water ahead of the storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very worried,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

In Jamaica, officials said that 881 shelters would be made available as needed. Courts were ordered closed and schools were switching to remote classes. Meanwhile, crews placed 1,000 sandbags in the eastern part of Kingston to prevent flooding from a nearby gully.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur main focus is to be prepared for what could be a very damaging storm,\u201d Works Minister Roberto Morgan said.<\/p>\n

Health Minister Christopher Tufton warned that Jamaica\u2019s 325 health centers would close by Thursday afternoon, and that the storm could interrupt supply chains, including those of life-saving medication.<\/p>\n

He said all hospitals are in emergency mode and have generators capable of providing power for up to 72 hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important that the public take the next couple of hours to prepare themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Jamaica\u2019s government warned of upcoming power outages and noted it has already flown in dozens of additional line workers to help in the storm\u2019s aftermath.<\/p>\n

Forecasters said Jamaica\u2019s eastern region could see up to 14 inches (36 centimeters) of rain that could lead to flooding and landslides because the ground is already saturated from recent heavy rains unrelated to the storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe system is still evolving,\u201d said Rohan Brown with Jamaica\u2019s Meteorological Services. \u201cWe urge everybody to be vigilant.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 100 people remained sheltered in the Dominican Republic<\/a>, where schools, businesses and government agencies were closed in the nine provinces under alert. Dozens of water supply systems remained out of service Thursday, affecting more than half a million customers. The storm also downed trees and traffic lights and unleashed a couple of small landslides.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople must remain in their homes for security reasons,\u201d said Juan Manuel M\u00e9ndez Garc\u00eda, emergency operations director in the Dominican Republic. <\/p>\n

Up to 14 inches (36 centimeters) of rain also was forecast for southern Haiti and the southern Dominican Republic through Sunday with higher totals in some areas. Still more rain was expected after Sunday.<\/p>\n

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami warned that \u201csignificant, life-threatening flash flooding and numerous landslides\u201d were expected in Jamaica and southern Hispaniola.<\/p>\n

Storm sparks concern for Haiti<\/p>\n

People were concerned about the storm\u2019s impact in Haiti, which has been devastated by past storms<\/a> given widespread erosion. Gang violence, poverty and weak governance<\/a> mean storm preparations are limited.<\/p>\n

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, announced Thursday that $4 million was set aside to help more than 10,000 vulnerable people in Haiti before the storm. The money will go toward lifesaving evacuation support, cash transfers, emergency shelter management and water, sanitation and hygiene kits, the agency said.<\/p>\n

Flooding is a big concern since Haiti reported 139 suspected cholera cases<\/a> and five deaths in one week alone earlier this month after nearly three months of no cases. The bacterial disease is spread most often by consuming contaminated water.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis outbreak is unfolding amid a severe deterioration of basic services in the capital, where only 11% of health facilities with inpatient capacity remain fully operational,\u201d OCHA said.<\/p>\n

Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, and the first named storm to form in the Caribbean this year.<\/p>\n

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had predicted an above-normal season with 13 to 18 named storms. Of those, five to nine were forecast to become hurricanes, including two to five major hurricanes, which pack winds of 111 mph (178 kph) or greater.<\/p>\n

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press reporter Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

____<\/p>\n

Follow AP\u2019s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) \u2014 Tropical Storm Melissa lumbered through the Caribbean Sea on Thursday, bringing a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":325911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[51944,163358,30368,88587,1613,163360,10109,10106,14505,6064,723,57,8884,2692,29606,18155,163357,87744,1612,163359,23754,50,930,163361,163362,3883,61,313,103,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-328400","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-alex-dasilva","9":"tag-barbara-campbell","10":"tag-caribbean","11":"tag-caribbean-sea","12":"tag-central-america","13":"tag-christopher-tufton","14":"tag-climate","15":"tag-climate-and-environment","16":"tag-dominican-republic","17":"tag-fl-state-wire","18":"tag-florida","19":"tag-general-news","20":"tag-haiti","21":"tag-hurricanes","22":"tag-hurricanes-and-typhoons","23":"tag-jamaica","24":"tag-juan-manuel-mndez-garca","25":"tag-landslides-and-mudslides","26":"tag-latin-america","27":"tag-michael-brennan","28":"tag-natural-disasters","29":"tag-news","30":"tag-oceans","31":"tag-roberto-morgan","32":"tag-rohan-brown","33":"tag-storms","34":"tag-u-s-news","35":"tag-weather","36":"tag-world","37":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115427613421086324","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}