Melissa has reached hurricane strength as it nears Jamaica. The storm has already left at least three dead in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic.
Hurricane Melissa lashes Caribbean, raises flood threat
Melissa has reached hurricane strength as it nears Jamaica. The storm has already left at least three dead in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic.
A woman and a man with a child carried pickaback walking through ankle-deep water
The Dominican Republic has already seen widespread Flooding
Deadly tropical storm Melissa has strengthened into a hurricane, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Saturday as it barrels towards Jamaica.
“Melissa has become a hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h),” the NHC said. “Rapid intensification is expected, and Melissa is forecast to become a major hurricane tomorrow.”
Forecasters have warned that the storm is expected to dump massive amounts of rain, which could lead to catastrophic flooding and landslides in the northern Caribbean region.
Melissa has already caused three deaths in Haiti. Two people were killed in a landslide on Thursday and a third died after a tree fell on them amid heavy rain earlier in the week.
A fourth person has been killed in the neighboring Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.
Nearly 200 homes in the Dominican Republic have been destroyed, while water supply to more than half a million people has been disrupted.
Warning of ‘catastrophic’ flooding
In an update on Saturday afternoon, the NHC said Melissa was around 235 miles (380 kilometers) southwest of Haiti as it moved slowly towards Jamaica.
It is expected to bring torrential rainfall to Jamaica, as well as Haiti and the Dominican Republic, through to Monday.
Forecasters have warned of the possibility of dangerous floods and landslides.
Southeast Cuba is also expected to be hit and receive between 10 and 20 centimeters of rain.
