Jamaica braces as Hurricane Melissa strengthens offshore

Jamaicans have been urged to take shelter as Hurricane Melissa continued to strengthen offshore.

Already a major Category 4 storm, Melissa was threatening on Monday to hit the Caribbean island nation hard. The slow pace at which it is moving, just 7 kilometres (4 miles) an hour, suggests that areas in the hurricane’s path could suffer extended punishing conditions and significant volumes of rainfall.

Melissa was centred about 205km (130 miles) south-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 495km (310 miles) south-southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba, on Sunday night. Landfall in Jamaica is not expected until late Monday or early Tuesday.

The hurricane could reach Category 5 strength on Monday with winds greater than 250 kilometres per hour (155 miles per hour) with maximum sustained winds of 230km/h (143mph) as of Sunday night, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

Up to about 1 metre (40 inches) of rainfall could hit parts of Jamaica as the storm passes directly over the island, threatening flash flooding and landslides.

“This extreme rainfall potential, owing to the slow motion, is going to create a catastrophic event here for Jamaica,” US National Hurricane Center (NHC) Deputy Director Jamie Rhome said in a webcast briefing.

“You need to just be wherever you’re going to be and be ready to ride this out for several days,” Rhome said.

Jamaica’s government ordered mandatory evacuations late on Sunday for Port Royal in Kingston, Portland Cottage and Rocky Point in Clarendon, Old Harbour Bay in St Catherine and Taylor Land, Bull Bay, New Haven and Riverton City in St Andrew.

“Many of these communities will not survive this flooding,” Desmond McKenzie, minister of local government, said at a news conference. “Kingston is low, extremely low … No community in Kingston is immune from flooding.