Hurricane Melissa has been downgraded again, this time to a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, as it is about to hit Cuba.

This is still ‘an extremely dangerous major hurricane’, the National Hurricane Centre said.

The centre warned the hurricane could ‘cause life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flash flooding with numerous landslides’ as it approaches Cuba.

Hurricane Melissa made historic landfall in Jamaica last night, as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in history.

The Jamaican government said Melissa is ‘the most powerful cyclone ever to impact the island’.

It has since been declared a disaster area by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, with reports of extensive damage to homes, hospitals and schools in southwest Jamaica.

According to the Meteorological Service of Jamaica (Met Service), the Category 5 hurricane made landfall along the island’s southwestern coast near New Hope, Westmoreland, yesterday, with maximum sustained winds estimated at 295km/h.

Earlier yesterday, the principal director of the meteorological services branch in the Ministry of Water, Environment and Climate Change, Evan Thompson, identified the southwestern coastline as the expected point of entry for the approaching hurricane.

“We did say that [when] the system… made landfall, it was expected to still be a Category 5 hurricane,” Thompson said.

He was speaking during a media briefing at the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) in Kingston.

Thompson said the hurricane’s inner core, characterised by its most intense winds and rainfall, was expected to produce catastrophic impacts.

“That means it [would] cause life-threatening damage. There is very little that can stop a Category 5 hurricane.

“Regardless of where you are in the parish of Westmoreland or St Elizabeth, if you are under the impact of those Category 5 hurricane-force winds, you will be having significant difficulty, even with the infrastructure that is in the area,” he said.

Thompson also indicated that following landfall, the hurricane is expected to track northeastward, exiting the island through Trelawny.

“We do expect that it will gradually be reduced in strength as it moves over the island. It will fall to a Category 4, maybe, and possibly Category 3, as it exits the country,” he said.

Website launched to mobilise support in Jamaica

The Jamaican government has launched a website to mobilise support, channel relief and co-ordinate recovery efforts in the aftermath of the hurricane.

Jamaica’s Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dana Morris Dixon, provided details during a press briefing at the NEOC.

“We have already been made aware of some nefarious individuals trying to collect money on behalf of Jamaica. We remind you that this will be the official site. If it doesn’t have .gov.jm, it’s not legitimate; it’s not an official government of Jamaica site,” she said.

People will also be able to provide emergency updates on the website.

“If there is an issue that you see in your area and you want to upload a picture, maybe there is flooding, or a town that has been cut off, you can actually notify us through that website,” she said.

She also said the website has a shelter locator. “It is all about mobilising resources, so it’s a resource for those locally, for those in the diaspora and anywhere in the world that want to give support to Jamaica,” she said.

She said 25 000 tourists remain on the island and the Ministry of Tourism is co-ordinating with hotels, providing support and keeping tourists ‘as safe as we possibly can’.

Shelters to remain open as long as needed

Jamaica’s minister of Local Government and Community Development, Desmond McKenzie, said all designated hurricane shelters will remain open for as long as needed.

Providing an update at a press briefing yesterday, McKenzie said close to 15 000 Jamaicans are so far being accommodated in shelters across the island.

“It is safe to say that our shelters have seen increased numbers. We also notice there are communities where residents have created makeshift shelters, and, in most cases, we were able to get limited supplies to those persons within those shelters,” he said.

Impact on Cuba

According to CNN, parts of southeastern Cuba could see 500 to 760mm of rain this week, more than enough to trigger life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides.

It will also likely have sustained winds of around 209km to 225km/h near its centre at landfall with higher gusts. Serious damage to buildings, trees and power lines is likely.

Melissa’s winds will generate up to 3.6m of storm surge for coastal southeastern Cuba, especially late today into tomorrow.

More than 700 000 people have been evacuated in Cuba, with the storm expected to make landfall along the southern coast of eastern Cuba ‘soon’, the National Hurricane Centre said. “It will be an extremely dangerous hurricane.”

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