Melissa strengthens to a Category 5 hurricane as it nears Jamaica

KINGSTON Jamaica AP Hurricane Melissa intensified to Category strength Monday as it neared Jamaica with up to inches centimeters of rain and a life-threatening storm surge Melissa is forecast to make landfall on the island Tuesday and cross Cuba and the Bahamas through Wednesday Melissa was centered about miles kilometers south-southwest of Kingston Jamaica and about miles kilometers south-southwest of Guant namo Cuba the U S National Hurricane Center in Miami reported The hurricane had maximum sustained winds of mph kph and was moving west at mph kph the center mentioned Category is the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale with sustained winds exceeding mph kph Melissa is the strongest hurricane in up-to-date history to directly hit the small Caribbean nation Selected local areas of eastern Jamaica could get inches meter of rain while western Haiti could get inches centimeters according to hurricane center Catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides are likely it warned The slow-moving storm has killed at least three people in Haiti and a fourth person in the Dominican Republic where another person remains missing I want to urge Jamaicans to take this seriously mentioned Desmond McKenzie deputy chairman of Jamaica s Catastrophe Peril Management Council Do not gamble with Melissa It s not a safe bet The hurricane was expected to make another landfall later Tuesday in eastern Cuba A hurricane warning was in effect for Granma Santiago de Cuba Guant namo and Holguin provinces while a tropical storm warning was in effect for Las Tunas Up to inches centimeters of rain were forecast for parts of Cuba along with a considerable storm surge along the coast A record storm for Jamaica Melissa could be the strongest hurricane Jamaica has experienced in decades mentioned Evan Thompson principal director at Jamaica s meteorological arrangement He warned that cleanup and damage assessment would be severely delayed because of anticipated landslides flooding and blocked roads In addition to the rainfall Melissa is likely to cause a life-threatening storm surge on Jamaica s southern coast peaking around feet meters above ground level near and to the east of where the center of Melissa makes landfall the U S center disclosed Don t make foolish decisions warned Daryl Vaz Jamaica s passage minister We are in a very very serious time over the next inadequate days A hit on Hispaniola The storm already has dropped heavy rain in the Dominican Republic where schools and leadership offices were ordered to remain closed on Monday in four of nine provinces still under red alert Melissa damaged more than homes across the country displacing more than people Floodwaters also have cut access to at least communities leaders stated In neighboring Haiti the storm destroyed crops in three regions including hectares acres of maize at a time when at least million people more than half of the country s population is experiencing problem levels of hunger with million of those facing crisis levels of hunger Flooding is obstructing access to farmland and markets jeopardizing harvests and the winter agricultural season the U N s Food and Agriculture Organization disclosed Melissa was expected to keep dumping torrential rain over southern Haiti and the southern Dominican Republic in upcoming days