Jamacia is about to be hit with a Category 5 Hurricane.

I prayed for the people on that island this morning because it's going to be a terrible catastrophe. I saw one young American woman on the news who said she doesn't know when she'll be able to get home. All flights are canceled for the week. Truthfully, it may wind up being longer with the devastation being forecast. They were warning tourists to leave the island by Saturday, I think. I wonder if there were no more available flights on that day or if she just waited too long to try to get a flight.
 
NYT-

"Hurricane Melissa’s destructive winds could be significantly stronger in Jamaica’s mountains, which cover nearly half the country, than at sea level when the storm hits the island on Tuesday.

The hurricane had a maximum sustained wind speed of 175 miles per hour early Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said overnight. But winds could be as much as 30 percent stronger in the hills and mountains, and will likely destroy structures and fell trees, power poles and most homes.

As the gusts flow up and over the mountains, the terrain can “funnel the winds and change their direction and speed,” according to Jack Beven, a senior hurricane specialist at the Hurricane Center.
Flash floods and landslides could also be a major hazard in the mountains, the Hurricane Center warned. Rainwater descending from the mountains might not be able to drain into the sea as a storm surge hits the coast. That could result in heavy rainfall accumulating and ripping through the mountainous terrain and rivers.

The Hurricane Center said that Hurricane Melissa was moving slower than expected over the Caribbean, putting Jamaica at greater risk of catastrophic flooding and storm surge. Slower storms can also dump large amounts of rain over a longer period, pushing more water from the coast further inland.

Melissa’s storm surge could be as high as 13 feet along Jamaica’s south coast, the Hurricane Center said on Tuesday. In Montego Bay, on the northwest coast, the storm surge could be up to four feet."
 
NYT- "Hurricane Melissa has made landfall near New Hope on Jamaica’s southwestern coast as a Category 5 storm, bringing violent winds and significant risks for flash flooding from rain and storm surge as its pushes across the island throughout Tuesday.

The hurricane had wind speeds of 185 m.p.h. when it made landfall at noon local time.

But it was the storm’s creeping pace that raised fears among forecasters and government officials that saturating rains could set off flash flooding in narrow river valleys and cause deadly landslides in Jamaica’s steep, mountainous topography.

More intense than the Category 5 strength of Katrina, which pummeled New Orleans in 2005, Melissa is now the fifth-strongest hurricane on record in the Atlantic Ocean.


Forecasters were predicting rains measured in feet, not inches, for Jamaica and other Caribbean nations this week. Despite mandatory evacuation orders and warnings about destructive winds, rain and floods, officials in Jamaica were worried that not enough people were heeding evacuation orders.

The winds in Melissa’s eye wall were so strong that they could cause “total structural failure” and widespread power and communication outages, the hurricane center said on Monday."
 
No where to go on a island. The slow ones are the worst because wind and duration. How much can structures and infrastructure take.

On the other hand lived on mainland Florida for years and it was frequently the older buildings that survived better than newer construction including the clay tile roofs, low profile buildings etc. The flooding and tide surges are the big worry here.

Best of luck to all in Jamica.
 
The US has been very fortunate because these strong hurricanes have been steered away this year.

Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica with historic 185 mph winds and extreme flooding. We're all told about evacuation but I feel for so many of these people who don't have the resources to go elsewhere. There have already been 3 deaths in Haiti and 3 deaths in Jamaica. I'm not religious but I'm really praying for the residents to survive this. :(

Cuba is next and most of their infrastructure is so old I can't imagine they will fare much better.

Live updates: Hurricane Melissa hits Jamaica with historic 185-mph winds
 
Last edited:
NYT - "Hurricane Melissa slowly cut a soaking and destructive path across Jamaica on Tuesday after making landfall as one of the strongest Category 5 storms on record.

The hourslong overland passage sapped some of the storm’s strength, dropping it to a Category 4 by the time it began moving off Jamaica’s north coast in the afternoon, on a churning path expected to take it to Cuba late Tuesday or early Wednesday. Forecasts of Melissa’s path after that take it toward the Bahamas later on Wednesday.

Exactly how much damage Jamaica had sustained was far from clear. Originally packing wind speeds of 185 m.p.h., Melissa had made landfall in Jamaica around midday, near New Hope on the island nation’s southwestern coast. The intense storm, one of the strongest ever in the region, tore off roofs and ripped down light poles.

The storm’s creeping pace raised fears among forecasters and government officials that its saturating rains might have caused flash flooding in narrow river valleys and deadly landslides in Jamaica’s steep, mountainous topography. However, communications were limited and officials were left with only partial and sporadic reports from stricken areas as they tried to assess the scale of the destruction.

Michael Brennan, the director of the National Hurricane Center, said that the country still had “a very dangerous few hours ahead,” with as much as six to 12 additional inches of rain expected after the core left Jamaica.

In an afternoon news conference, Jamaican officials said that 15,000 people were in government shelters — far fewer than the tens of thousands who had been expected to be displaced. More than half a million people, or about a sixth of the country’s population, were without power, according to the officials."
 
againstthegrain said:
In an afternoon news conference, Jamaican officials said that 15,000 people were in government shelters — far fewer than the tens of thousands who had been expected to be displaced. More than half a million people, or about a sixth of the country’s population, were without power, according to the officials."
Click to expand...
Let's hope the shelters were less crowded due to less impact rather than people simply refusing to leave their homes. People refusing to leave their homes in disasters like this are the primary reason for so many deaths. We see it in every newscast. "I'm going to ride it out", then they are on their roofs waving for help. :(
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top