Jamaican residents, tourists brace for Hurricane Melissa to make landfall

PHILADELPHIA (WPHL) — As Hurricane Melissa is set to become the most catastrophic storm to hit Jamaica in 174 years since record-keeping began, forcing residents and tourists to shelter in place. The storm is designated as a Category 5 hurricane. Winds are up to 175mph even before making landfall, which is forecasted for Tuesday late morning/early afternoon.

“I’ve never been in a Category 5 hurricane, so I’m just staying prayed up,” Kimmy Small said in a Zoom interview on Action News at 10 on PHL17. She lives in Horsham, Pa., but she and her family were celebrating her niece’s 30th birthday at a Jamaican resort before getting stranded on the islands. Small said there are mixed emotions towards the storm with other visitors on the resort. “There’s birthdays here, so they’re signing ‘Happy Birthday,’ some people are laughing and galloping, and some people are worried. It’s mixed.”

The storm has already turned deadly. Hurricane Melissa is blamed for the death of seven individuals in the northern Caribbean. Landslides, fallen trees, and several power outages are also reported.

While some areas are under a “shelter-in-place” order, flood-prone communities across Jamaica were issued mandatory evacuations over the weekend. Airports in Jamaica began grounding flights on Saturday and Sunday.

Hurricane Melissa is expected to bring a life-threatening storm surge of nine to 13 feet on the southern coast of Jamaica. More than 800 shelters are prepared to support those in need. Patients in hospitals along the coast were relocated to ground-floor beds.

The local government said that no infrastructure in the region can withstand a Category 5 hurricane. The last major hurricane to make landfall on the island was Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. The Category 3 storm caused significant damage, and it took months for residents to and the government to rebuild. The social and economic recovery took much longer.

“We have never seen anything like this in Jamaica, and so we have to have everyone prepared and listen to the fact that this is going to be catastrophic,” Dana Morris Dixon said in a Zoom interview on Action News at 10 on PHL17. Dixon is the Jamaican Minister of Education, Skills, Youth, and Information.