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Hurricane Melissa downgraded to Category 3 with Cuba landfall
WEDNESDAY MORNING:Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Cuba just before dawn Wednesday with Category 3 winds of 120 miles per hour. The storm was moving north-northeast at 14 miles per hour.
Bands of torrential rain and wind continued to stream across portions of Jamaica, Haiti, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos.
Melissa will next sweep quickly through the southeast Bahamas later today, then make its closest pass to Bermuda late Thursday and Thursday night.
In eastern Cuba, up to 25 inches of total rain could fall through today, with potentially catastrophic flash flooding and landslides.
TUESDAY EVENING:
Melissa made landfall at 12:04 p.m. as the strongest Category 5 hurricane to ever make a direct hit on Jamaica. It exited the northern shore of the island as a Category 4 at 4:22 p.m.
The western third of Jamaica took the brunt of the storm's eyewall and 185-mph sustained winds. Once the storm clears out overnight, emergency officials are expecting to find the results of catastrophic winds and flooding, including landslides, widespread infrastructure damage, power and communications outages, and isolated communities.
Four main hospitals are damaged, with the storm knocking out power to one of them, forcing officials to evacuate 75 patients.
As Melissa moves off the island, its counterclockwise rotation will bring a heavy storm surge to northern Jamaica through the night.
Officials in Jamaica also warned residents in Kingston and surrounding areas to beware of crocodiles being displaced from their natural habitats by the widespread floodwaters.
Meanwhile in Cuba, life-threatening storm surge is already building up on the southern shores. Nearly 300,000 residents have already been evacuated to shelters on higher ground.
TUESDAY AFTERNOON:
Heavy floodwaters swept across southwestern Jamaica, winds tore roofs off buildings and boulders tumbled into roads Tuesday as Hurricane Melissa came ashore as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.
The Jamaican government said it had done all it could to prepare as it warned of devastating damage from the strongest hurricane to hit the island since recordkeeping began 174 years ago.
“There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said. “The question now is the speed of recovery. That’s the challenge.”
Massive wind damage is expected in Melissa’s core and Jamaica’s highest mountains could see gusts of up to 200 mph, said Michael Brennan, director of the National Hurricane Center.
“It’s going to be a very dangerous scenario,” he said, warning that there would be “total building failures.”
Hurricane Melissa’s 185 mph winds and 892 millibars of central pressure tied two records for the strongest Atlantic storm on landfall. The pressure — the key measurement meteorologists use — ties 1935’s Labor Day hurricane in Florida. The wind speed ties the 1935 hurricane and 2019’s Hurricane Dorian.
On Tuesday afternoon, Melissa had top sustained winds of 160 mph and was moving north-northeast at 8 mph.
TUESDAY MORNING:
Hurricane Melissa was set to pummel Jamaica this afternoon as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, the strongest storm on the planet this year.
It's also the strongest to lash the island since recordkeeping began 174 years ago. The island has never taken a direct hit from a Category 5 storm.
Outer bands are already lashing Jamaica with tropical storm-force winds. Melissa was expected to make landfall early Tuesday, forecasters said. Shortly after, it is expected to hit Cuba.
Hours before the storm, the Jamaican government said it had done all it could to prepare as it warned of catastrophic damage.
Landslides, fallen trees and numerous power outages were reported ahead of the storm, with officials in Jamaica cautioning that the cleanup and damage assessment would be slow.
A life-threatening storm surge of up to 13 feet is expected across southern Jamaica, with officials concerned about the impact on some hospitals along the coastline. Health Minister Christopher Tufton said some patients were relocated from the ground floor to the second floor, “and (we) hope that will suffice for any surge that will take place.”
The storm already was blamed for seven deaths in the Caribbean, including three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.
Early Tuesday, Melissa was centered about 115 miles southwest of Kingston and about 290 miles southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba. The system had maximum sustained winds of 175 mph and was moving north-northeast at 5 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.
MONDAY:
Hurricane Melissa intensified to Category 5 strength Monday as it neared Jamaica, where forecasters said it would unleash catastrophic flooding, multiple landslides and extensive infrastructure damage.
Melissa is forecast to make landfall on the island Tuesday and cross Cuba and the Bahamas through Wednesday.
Early Monday, Melissa was centered about 135 miles southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 320 miles southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
The hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 160 mph and was moving west at 3 mph.
Category 5 is the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale with sustained winds exceeding 157 mph. Melissa is the strongest hurricane in recent history forecast to directly hit the small Caribbean nation.
SUNDAY:
Hurricane Melissa strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds Saturday evening as the US National Hurricane Center warned it would turn into a rare Category 5 hurricane by Monday afternoon.
The center of the hurricane is located 125 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica and the storm is moving at just 3 mph.
The United States mainland is not expected to be directly threatened by Melissa. Even so, rough surf and rip currents could spread along the US East Coast next week.
On Saturday, Jamaican officials said time was running out for residents to prepare for the storm. Evan Thompson, Director of the Meteorological Service of Jamaica, warned Melissa could be worse than previous major storms that battered the island, such as Hurricane Wilma in 2005.
The erratic storm was expected to drop copious rain on Jamaica and the southern regions of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. At least three people were killed in Haiti, and one person was killed and one reported missing in Dominican Republic.
“These heavy rains are just going to sit over one area for several days,” said Jamie Rhome, deputy director at the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
The National Hurricane Center forecasts Hurricane Melissa will make landfall in Jamaica early next week. The center is forecasting 15-30 inches of rain in Jamaica and parts of southern Hispaniola into midweek. Some local areas in the region could see as many as 40 inches of rain.
The U.S. Navy ordered non-essential personnel and families to evacuate the base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on Saturday. Hurricane conditions are expected in eastern Cuba Tuesday into Wednesday. Rainfall totals could reach more than one foot.
Map: Accuweather.com
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