Fear of mass destruction in Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa churns in

KINGSTON, Jamaica: Jamaican officials called on the public to get to higher ground and shelters on Monday evening ahead of Hurricane Melissa, with the prime minister warning it could be a massively destructive storm — the island’s most violent on record.

Melissa is charting a painstakingly slow path through the Caribbean as a monster Category 5 storm, which has already been blamed for at least four deaths in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Its heavy rains combined with intense winds — Melissa’s maximum speeds are 175 miles (280 kilometers) per hour, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest update — could wreak devastation on the scale of historic hurricanes including 2017’s Maria or 2005’s Katrina.

Those massive storms, which have grown increasingly common as the climate warms, left indelible impacts on Puerto Rico and the US city of New Orleans.

Local government minister Desmond McKenzie said Monday evening that of the island’s 880-odd shelters standing by, only 133 were hosting locals.

They “should be seeing people now,” McKenzie said, adding “I want to urge persons in these parishes to get to high ground as quickly as possible.”

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the island’s western end faced the worst.

“I don’t believe there is any infrastructure within this region that could withstand a Category 5 storm, so there could be significant dislocation,” he told CNN.

But despite pleas to evacuate, many residents in Jamaica were staying put.

“I am not moving. I don’t believe I can run from death,” Roy Brown, speaking from the historic seaside area Port Royal in Kingston, told AFP.

The plumber and tiler cited poor conditions and bad past experiences at government hurricane shelters for not wanting to flee.

Fisherwoman Jennifer Ramdial echoed that view, also adding: “I just don’t want to leave.”

Holness said evacuation was about “the national good of saving lives.”

“You have been warned. It’s now up to you to use that information to make the right decision,” he said during a briefing.

‘Catastrophic’

Jamaica was expected to see deteriorating conditions through Monday night, with landfall expected early Tuesday.

Part of Melissa’s punch stems from its slow pace: it is lumbering along slower than most people walk, at just three miles per hour or less.

That means areas in its path could endure punishing conditions for far longer than during most hurricanes.

The NHC warned of “catastrophic” flash flooding, landslides and destructive winds that could cause lengthy power and communications outages, along with “extensive infrastructural damage.”

Up to 40 inches (about a meter) of rainfall were forecast, with deluges expected to bring flash flooding and landslides to Jamaica as well as Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

Storm surge was likely along Jamaica’s southern coast, with waters potentially rising some 13 feet, along with “destructive waves.”

In the farming community of Flagaman in St. Elizabeth, residents hunkered down in a store.

Owner Enrico Coke said he opened his place for fear that his neighbors had nowhere to go: “I’m concerned about farmers, the fishermen will be suffering after this.”

“We’ll need help as soon as possible, especially water for the people.”

After pummeling Jamaica, Melissa was forecast to head north and cross over eastern Cuba on Tuesday night.

Meteorologist Kerry Emanuel told AFP a warming climate was causing more storms to rapidly intensify as Melissa did, and especially raises the potential for enormous rains.

“Water kills a lot more people than wind,” he told AFP.

The last major hurricane to impact Jamaica was Beryl in July 2024 — an abnormally strong storm for the time of year.

“Human-caused climate change is making all of the worst aspects of Hurricane Melissa even worse,” said climate scientist Daniel Gilford.