Eye of Melissa moves past Jamaica after hitting as strongest hurricane in the region in 174 years
CBC
Heavy floodwaters swept across southwestern Jamaica, winds tore roofs off buildings and boulders tumbled onto roads Tuesday as Hurricane Melissa came ashore as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.
Landslides, fallen trees and numerous power outages were reported as Melissa came ashore with 295 km/h winds near New Hope, with officials cautioning that the cleanup and damage assessment could be slow.
"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."
Floodwaters trapped at least three families in their homes in the community of Black River in western Jamaica, and crews were unable to help them because of dangerous conditions, said Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica's Disaster Risk Management Council.
"Roofs were flying off," he said. "We are hoping and praying that the situation will ease so that some attempt can be made to get to those persons."
On X, a person in Black River wrote, "I never knew concrete could shake like this."
"Three windows broken. Doors shaking. Outside sounds like people screaming or a huge train passing by. I am terrified."
McKenzie noted that extensive damage was reported in the southwestern parish of St. Elizabeth, which he said "is underwater."
He said there are no confirmed reports of deaths but stressed that it was too early to talk about the extent of the damage because the hurricane — the strongest to hit the island since recordkeeping began 174 years ago — was still pummeling the country.
Rohan Brown, with Jamaica's Meteorological Service, warned that as Melissa moves off the coast, its counterclockwise rotation will bring a heavy storm surge to northern Jamaica through the night.
The storm is headed toward Cuba, where it was expected to make landfall as a major hurricane early Wednesday.
Nearly 15,000 people were in shelters in Jamaica and some 540,000 customers, or 77 per cent, were without power, officials said.
Colin Bogle, an adviser for the humanitarian aid organization Mercy Corps who is based near Kingston, told The Associated Press that many families in the Jamaican capital are staying put and sheltering in place, despite government evacuation orders.
Bogle was staying with his grandmother in Portmore, just west of Kingston, where everything went dark earlier this morning after a loud explosion.
