Jamaica endures hours of terror under the direct impact of Hurricane Melissa, a category 5 monster that crossed the island this Tuesday with winds of up to 270 kilometers per hour, torrential rains, and devastating storm surges.
The cyclone, with a central pressure of just 899 millibars, has caused the collapse of roofs, widespread power outages, river overflows, and landslides in various regions of the country.
The eye of the hurricane slowly moved over the west of the island, leaving scenes of total destruction in Montego Bay and nearby rural communities.
Local authorities urged the population not to leave their shelters as violent gusts and waves exceeding three meters battered the southern and northern coasts.
Emergency agencies describe the situation as "catastrophic" and fear that the material damage will be extensive throughout the western region of Jamaica.
Melissa covers a vast area of the Caribbean, with hurricane-force winds extending up to 45 kilometers from the center and tropical gusts reaching up to 315 kilometers in radius.
The phenomenon also causes waves between 9 and 13 feet (up to 4 meters) on the south coast of Jamaica and could generate swells of 8 to 12 feet along the southeastern coastline of Cuba.
The expected rainfall accumulations are equally severe: between 25 and 30 inches (over 700 millimeters) in Jamaica, and 250 to 500 millimeters for eastern Cuba, which raises the risk of catastrophic flooding and landslides.
The Cuban provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Holguín, and Las Tunas remain under hurricane alert, while Camagüey, Haiti, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands are under tropical storm warning.
The independent global weather visualization platform Windy estimated this Tuesday that the hurricane Melissa will make landfall in the Uvero–Chivirico area in Santiago de Cuba during the early hours of Wednesday, with maximum winds approaching 222 kilometers per hour.
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