A powerful storm labeled Hurricane Melissa is on the verge of hitting Jamaica, announced the National Hurricane Center. This Category 5 hurricane, with sustained winds reaching 175mph, is currently causing chaos on the Caribbean island with flash floods and storm surges. Although still some distance away, the storm is picking up speed, and its center is anticipated to reach land by midday local time.
Meteorologists are predicting that Melissa could potentially become the most intense hurricane to strike Jamaica, bringing with it up to 30 inches of rain coupled with 175mph winds. The Met Office has also highlighted the possibility of Hurricane Melissa impacting the weather in the UK. According to a spokesperson from Yahoo News UK, the storm is projected to lose its tropical characteristics in the North Atlantic and eventually dissipate later in the week. There is a slight chance that the remnants of Melissa might influence the UK’s weather next week, maintaining the unsettled conditions already present.
Following its impact on Jamaica, Melissa is set to head towards eastern Cuba on Tuesday evening, where over 500,000 individuals have been evacuated from vulnerable areas. The storm is then expected to move towards the Bahamas on Wednesday, diminishing to a Category 2 hurricane by that time.
Tragically, Hurricane Melissa has already led to three fatalities in Jamaica and four in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimates that up to 1.5 million people could be affected in Jamaica, including around 25,000 tourists currently on the island.
With forecasts indicating Melissa’s landfall as a Category 5 storm followed by a downgrade to Category 4 while crossing Jamaica, Michael Brennan, the director of the US National Hurricane Center, has cautioned about the potential devastation. He warned of possible “total building failures” and wind gusts of up to 200mph in Jamaica’s highest mountains. Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness has emphasized the lack of infrastructure capable of withstanding the storm’s impact.
Experts have pointed out that the climate crisis is exacerbating hurricanes in the Caribbean, with Hurricane Melissa intensifying rapidly due to ocean temperatures 1.4C above average—a situation made significantly more likely by climate change. The storm has been named Melissa as per the naming system for tropical storms set by the US National Hurricane Center and the World Meteorological Organization, cycling through names every six years unless a storm proves exceptionally catastrophic.