By Emma Farge
GENEVA (Reuters) -Hurricane Melissa was expected to bring catastrophe as it makes landfall in Jamaica with storm surges, flash floods and landslides in the worst storm to hit the Caribbean island this century, a U.N. weather official said on Tuesday.
The Category 5 storm, the strongest possible on the Saffir-Simpson scale, will bring wind gusts of over 300 km per hour (186 miles per hour) and widespread devastation to the island, where authorities have ordered mandatory evacuations.
“It’s a catastrophic situation expected in Jamaica,” the World Meteorological Organization’s tropical cyclone specialist Anne-Claire Fontan told a Geneva press briefing. “For Jamaica, it will be the storm of the century for sure.”
Storm surges of up to four meters were expected, she said, with rainfall set to exceed 70 cm (2.3 ft) or about twice the amount expected normally during the entire rainy season.
“It means there will be catastrophic flash flooding and landslides,” she said.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center expects the storm to hit Jamaica early on Tuesday, and then cross eastern Cuba to move over the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos by Wednesday.
STORM INTENSIFIED ON APPROACH
Melissa’s slow movement over unusually tepid Caribbean water had contributed to its ballooning size and strength, NHC forecasters said, threatening Jamaica with days of never-before-seen catastrophic winds and rain.
The International Federation of the Red Cross said up to 1.5 million people in Jamaica were expected to be directly affected by the storm.
“Today will be very difficult for tens of thousands, if not millions of people in Jamaica,” IFRC’s Necephor Mghendi said via video link from Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago.
“Roofs will be tested, floodwaters will rise, isolation will become a harsh reality for many.” Over 800 shelters have been set up for evacuees from the worst-hit areas, he added.
EVACUATIONS ORDERED
On Monday, Prime Minister Andrew Holness ordered mandatory evacuations for parts of southern Jamaica, including the historic town of Port Royal.
He warned of damage to farmlands, homes and infrastructure on the island, which is roughly the size of Connecticut and whose main airports sit very close to sea level.
“There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5,” he said.
(Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva, Zahra Burton in Kingston, Dave Sherwood in Havana and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; editing by Kirsti Knolle, Ros Russell and Bernadette Baum)
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