At least 7 killed as Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica

At least seven people have died across the northern Caribbean as Category 5 Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Jamaica’s southwestern coast Tuesday, affecting Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. At 2 p.m. local time, the hurricane’s eye was over western Jamaica, moving north-northeast at 13 km/h, and is expected to hit southeastern Cuba and the Bahamas later Wednesday. The storm is causing heavy rainfall of 350–750 mm, widespread flooding, damaged roads and bridges, power and communication outages, and isolation of communities. Mandatory evacuations are in effect for parts of Jamaica, affecting around 1.5 million people, while Cuba has evacuated over 600,000. Experts warn that Melissa’s slow pace may bring prolonged torrential rain, increasing risks of deadly floods and landslides, marking it as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricane landfalls on record.

Credit : CGTN