It is currently approaching midnight in Jamaica and the change of day is expected to bring with it the arrival of Melissa.
The wind length at Melissa is currently greater than the longitude of Jamaica, and the airports are located very close to sea level.
Hours after ordering mandatory evacuations for parts of southern Jamaica, including the historic town of Port Royal, Prime Minister Andrew Holness called for foreign support and warned of damage to farmland, homes and infrastructure such as bridges, roads, ports and airports.
People in Jamaica stock up on food before the storm.Credit: AP
Despite warnings, some residents said they were reluctant to leave their homes for fear of looting, and authorities said buses were waiting to fill up and transport some 28,000 affected by mandatory evacuation orders.
“There is no infrastructure in the region that can support a category 5,” he said.
Holness said his government was as prepared as possible, with a $33 million emergency response budget and insurance and credit provisions for damage slightly greater than that suffered by last year’s devastating Hurricane Beryl.
Hurricane Melissa has intensified into a Category 5 storm as it approaches Jamaica, according to the National Hurricane Center.Credit: fake images
Beryl was the earliest and fastest Atlantic hurricane on record to reach Category 5, but scientists warn that storms are getting stronger more quickly as a result of climate change warming ocean waters, building up fuel for seasonal storms.
“Tens of thousands of families are facing hours of extreme wind gusts exceeding 100 mph and days of torrential, relentless rain,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said, adding that damage to infrastructure could hinder the arrival of aid.
“Large, slow-moving hurricanes often go down in history as some of the deadliest and most destructive storms ever recorded,” he added. “This is a terrible situation unfolding in slow motion.”
Reuters
