The United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) has upgraded the hurricane to Category 5 this Monday. Melissa, the maximum that these meteorological phenomena can reach on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Formed last Tuesday in the Caribbean Sea, the storm is already on its way to Jamaica and has put the island’s population on alert due to the risk of destructive winds, storm surge and catastrophic flooding.
After passing through Jamaica, the forecast is that Melissa Continue on your way to Cuba between Tuesday and Wednesday. In addition to these two islands, which are expected to be the hardest hit, the heavy rains of the storm have already reached both Haiti, with a provisional toll of four dead and 15 injured, and the Dominican Republic, where one death has been recorded.
The most recent data from the COE also indicates that the rains of recent days in the Dominican Republic have affected 202 homes, a road and a bridge. In addition, a total of 28 localities are cut off and local authorities warn of the saturation of the soil as a result of the accumulation of water, which will prevent the filtration of future precipitation.
Around one million Dominican homes have been left without drinking water due to the effects of the storm in dozens of aqueducts, according to information released by the Emergency Operations Center (COE).
The US meteorological service has stated that the hurricane was located about 315 miles (505 kilometers) southwest of Guantánamo (Cuba), where maximum sustained winds of 260 kilometers per hour have already been recorded. “A slow turn toward the northwest and north is expected today (this Monday) and tonight, followed by an acceleration toward the northeast starting on Tuesday and continuing at least until Thursday,” the NHC said.
This morning, according to the data recorded by this same organization, Melissa It was located just over 200 kilometers south-southwest of Kingston, the Jamaican capital.
In view of the arrival of Melissathe Jamaican Government, led by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, has already ordered the immediate evacuation of several areas of Kingston and vulnerable communities on the island, according to the BBC. The island, for now, has been classified as “threatened.” British public television reports that Jamaican Government Minister Desmond McKenzie has also announced to local media the opening of the island’s 881 shelters.
Last Friday, the NHC already warned that the system had experienced a “structural metamorphosis” with the appearance of well-defined cloud bands and more organized convection. In addition, he explained that the reduction in wind shear below 37 kilometers per hour represented a condition that “could allow for more rapid intensification in the coming hours.”
The advance of the storm, which has already caused damage and deaths in different parts of the Caribbean, threatens to hit Jamaica, becoming the strongest hurricane in the country’s history.
For more updates, visit our homepage: NewsTimesWire
