16 hours ago
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KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Hurricane Melissa was acceptable to pummel Jamaica connected Tuesday arsenic a catastrophic Category 5 storm, the strongest to lash the land since recordkeeping began 174 years ago.
The tempest was expected to marque landfall aboriginal Tuesday and portion diagonally crossed the island, entering adjacent St. Elizabeth parish successful the southbound and exiting astir St. Ann parish successful the north, forecasters said. Shortly after, it is expected to deed Cuba.
Hours earlier the storm, the Jamaican authorities said it had done each it could to hole arsenic it warned of catastrophic damage.
“There is nary infrastructure successful the portion that tin withstand a Category 5,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said. “The question present is the velocity of recovery. That’s the challenge.”
Landslides, fallen trees and galore powerfulness outages were reported up of the storm, with officials successful Jamaica cautioning that the cleanup and harm appraisal would beryllium slow.
A life-threatening tempest surge of up to 13 feet (4 meters) is expected crossed confederate Jamaica, with officials acrophobic astir the interaction connected immoderate hospitals on the coastline. Health Minister Christopher Tufton said immoderate patients were relocated from the crushed level to the 2nd floor, "and (we) anticipation that volition suffice for immoderate surge that volition instrumentality place.”
The tempest already was blamed for 7 deaths successful the Caribbean, including 3 successful Jamaica, 3 successful Haiti and 1 successful the Dominican Republic, wherever different idiosyncratic remains missing.
Jamaica braces for catastrophic damage
Early Tuesday, Melissa was centered astir 115 miles (180 kilometers) west-southwest of Kingston and astir 290 miles (465 kilometers) southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba. The strategy had maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (280 kph) and was moving north-northeast astatine 5 mph (8 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center successful Miami.
“We volition get done it together,” said Evan Thompson, main manager astatine Jamaica’s meteorological service.
Colin Bogle, a Mercy Corps advisor based adjacent Kingston, said astir families are sheltering successful spot contempt the authorities ordering evacuations successful flood-prone communities.
“Many person ne'er experienced thing similar this before, and the uncertainty is frightening,” helium said. “There is profound fearfulness of losing homes and livelihoods, of injury, and of displacement.”
Matthew Samuda, Jamaica’s h2o and situation minister, said helium had much than 50 generators disposable to deploy aft the storm, but warned radical to acceptable speech cleanable h2o and usage it sparingly.
“Every driblet volition count,” helium said.
Melissa takes purpose astatine Cuba
Melissa besides was expected to marque landfall successful eastbound Cuba precocious Tuesday arsenic a almighty hurricane.
A hurricane informing was successful effect for Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo and Holguin provinces, portion a tropical tempest informing was successful effect for Las Tunas. Up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rainfall were forecast for parts of Cuba, on with a important tempest surge on the coast.
Cuban officials said Monday that they were evacuating much than 600,000 radical from the region, including Santiago, the island’s second-largest city.
Melissa besides has drenched the confederate regions of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, with a tropical tempest informing inactive successful effect for Haiti.
The hurricane was forecast to crook northeast aft Cuba and onslaught the southeast Bahamas by Wednesday evening.
A hurricane informing was successful effect for the southeastern and cardinal Bahamas, and a tropical tempest informing was issued for the Turks and Caicos Islands.
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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
