Hurricane Melissa makes most powerful landfall in 90 years, leaves 29 dead in Caribbean

The hurricane that battered Jamaica on Tuesday was the strongest to make the landfall ever since the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, according to an AFP analysis of meteorological data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The Labor Day Hurricane devastated the Florida Keys 90 years ago with winds approaching 300 km/h and an atmospheric pressure of 892 millibars — a record combination equalled by Melissa, according to the data.

The hurricane hit Jamaica as a Category 5 storm and was the strongest one ever recorded to have hit the nation, leaving a trail of destruction behind.

Ahead of the hurricane, nearly 735,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Cuba, said authorities. A day before, Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel also warned that the hurricane is expected to cause “significant damage” while urging people to follow evacuation orders, HT reported earlier.

Hurricane Melissa engulfs Jamaica

According to authorities, Jamaica has been designated as a “disaster zone” after the impact of the hurricane, reported news agency AFP.

After the hurricane that claimed at least three lives in Jamaica passed, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said said that even though their country was ravaged by it, they will rebuild and “will do so even better than before”.

“Tonight I encourage Jamaicans to be hopeful. I know many, especially those in the worst affected parishes, are feeling disheartened. Your homes may have been damaged or destroyed and your communities and towns no longer look the same. I know your pain and I feel your loss. We are mobilizing quickly to start the relief and recovery efforts and we will be there with you every step of the way,” he wrote in a post on X.

While storms and hurricanes are not unknown to Jamaica, a Category 4 or 5 storm has never hit the country before. Ahead of Melissa’s arrival, the World Meteorological Organisation’s tropical cyclone specialist Anne-Claire had told a press briefing that the situation is “catastrophic”.

Further course of the hurricane

Authorities of Cuba, where Melissa made landfall on Wednesday said that some 500,000 people were ordered to move to higher ground.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Wednesday said that Cuba recorded ‘extensive damage’ from the hurricane.

Meanwhile, the government in the Bahamas, which is next in Melissa’s path toward the northeast, has ordered evacuations of residents in the southern parts of the archipelago.

After roaring in Jamaica, hurricane Melissa is now forecast to curve to the northeast and move toward Cuba’s second-most populous city of Santiago de Cuba. The President said in a message published in state newspaper Granma, “We should already be feeling its main influence this afternoon and evening.” He also said that there will be a lot of work to do.

“It will be a very difficult night for all of Cuba, but we will recover,” he said in a post on X.

Melissa and its deadly trail across the Caribbean

The category 5 storm, hurricane Melissa claimed 29 lives in total, three of them from Jamaica, twenty five from Haiti and one from Dominican Republic, according to official numbers as of now.

Around 25 people died after La Digue river burst its banks and flooded nearby homes, AP reported quoting the mayor of the southern Haitian coastal town of Petit-Goâve, Jean Bertrand Subrème.

The storm hit Jamaica early on Tuesday. But three people died as trees were being cut down in preparation for Melissa. Two died after trees fell on them, and one was electrocuted.

People stranded, lives disrupted

The only public hospital in southwestern Jamaica lost power soon after the hurricane made landfall near the parish border between Westmoreland and St Elizabeth, Reuters reported.

The storm damaged a total of four hospitals and left one without power, forcing officials to evacuate 75 patients, local government minister Desmond McKenzie said.

McKenzie also told a press briefing that St Elizabeth was submerged by flooding.

He added that several families were known to have been stranded in their homes, while rescue teams managed to reach a group that included four babies.

A retiree in Portland Cottage, some 94 miles away from Melissa’s landfall spot, spoke to the news agency and described the hurricane, saying, “It’s like a roaring lion. It’s mad. Really mad.”

What’s next?

A hurricane warning has been put in effect for Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Holguin and Las Tunas provinces as well as the southeastern and central Bahamas.

It was forecast to continue weakening as it crossed Cuba and remain a strong hurricane as it moves across the southeastern or central Bahamas later on Wednesday. The storm is expected to make its way late Thursday near or to the west of Bermuda, where a hurricane watch is in effect, read a report by news agency AP.

The government said it hopes to reopen all of Jamaica’s airports as early as Thursday to ensure quick distribution of emergency relief supplies.

(With inputs from AP, AFP, Reuters)