Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness has issued a dire warning ahead of Hurricane Melissa making landfall, as wind speeds hit 185 mph.
Experts are already calling the powerful natural disaster the ‘storm of the century’, claiming it could render the tropical island ‘unrecognisable’, triggering a humanitarian disaster.
The Category 5 hurricane is already responsible for the death of three Jamaicans, as well as three in Haiti, and one recorded fatality in the Dominican Republic, according to CNN.
An on-the-ground reporter has told BBC News that the country is currently relying on generators to keep it on the internet, while someone else reported that the ‘whole coastline is already gone’ as waves reach as high as 15 feet.
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Most hospitals on the island are still receiving power, except those in the southwestern parishes of Manchester and St. Elizabeth, Daryl Vaz, Jamaica’s Minister for Science, Energy, Telecommunications, and Transport, said.
“There is no plan at this point to shut down the grid,” he stressed.
As Hurricane Melissa continues on its path, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness, 53, has spoken out.
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The leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has been in office since March 3, 2016, having previously served in the role between 2011 and 2012.
Issuing a statement on the tropical storm, Holness said ‘no infrastructure can withstand a Category 5’.
Dr Fred Thomas, a research software engineer at Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute, has agreed somewhat with the politician's sentiments.
He told the BBC that most new buildings on the island were made of reinforced concrete, and that they should be ‘pretty strong’.
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“The frightening thing about Melissa is not just the wind - it's the rain and the storm surge. You could have your whole ground floor completely inundated and then part of the first floor as well,” he explained.
Unfortunately, infrastructure in rural and hillside areas may not fare as well, with Dr Patricia Green, an architect and preservationist based in Kingston, claiming Jamaica is ‘unprepared to cope effectively’ with the devastating weather event.
Various US aircraft have been flying into Hurricane Melissa to get to grips with what Jamaica is facing, including two ‘hurricane hunters’.
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One of the planes, operated by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was the number one tracked aeroplane on FlightRadar24 earlier today.
NOAA Hurricane Hunters continue to fly into the storm to collect valuable wind data, as per CNN.
Meteorologists don’t know when the hurricane will make landfall, but the nation is expected to face up to 40 inches of rain. That amount of rain could spell life-threatening flash floods and landslides in the island nation.
After devastating Jamaica, residents of Southeast Cuba are expected to feel hurricane-force winds on Tuesday night.
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On Wednesday, the southeast Bahamas and Turks and Caicos will feel its wrath, as per ABC News.
Topics: Environment, Politics, Weather, World News, Climate Change
Ella Scott