Hurricane Melissa threatens Jamaica, Haiti with flooding

The U.S. Hurricane Center said Melissa is likely to reach the southern coast of Jamaica as a major hurricane late Monday or Tuesday morning.

Hurricane Melissa strengthened into a major Category 4 hurricane, with the possibility of intensifying to a Category 5 storm Sunday night, unleashing torrential rain and threatening to cause catastrophic flooding in the northern Caribbean, including Haiti and Jamaica, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The weather agency added Melissa is likely to reach the southern coast of Jamaica as a major hurricane late Monday or Tuesday morning, and urged people on the island to seek shelter immediately.

“I urge Jamaicans to take this weather threat seriously,” said Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness. “Take all measures to protect yourself.”

Melissa was centered about 110 miles (180 kilometres) south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 280 miles (445 kilometres) south-southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba, on Sunday morning. It had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 kph) and was moving west at three mph (five kph), the hurricane center said.

Melissa was expected to drop torrential rains of up to 30 inches (760 millimetres) on Jamaica and southern Hispaniola — Haiti and the Dominican Republic — according to the hurricane center. Some areas may see as much as 40 inches (1,010 millimetres) of rain.

It also warned that extensive damage to infrastructure, power and communication outages, and the isolation of communities in Jamaica were to be expected.

Melissa should be near or over Cuba by late Tuesday, where it could bring up to 12 inches (300 millimetres) of rain, before moving toward the Bahamas later Wednesday.

The Cuban government on Saturday afternoon issued a hurricane watch for the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and Holguin.