Melissa is now a Class 3 hurricane and is predicted to quickly intensify over the following 24 hours, threatening catastrophic flooding within the northern Caribbean, together with Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba.
At 2pm Sunday AEDT, the hurricane was positioned about 450 kilometres from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, packing most sustained winds of 185 kilometres per hour.
Melissa is now a Class 3 hurricane.Credit score: WeatherZone
The US Hurricane Centre mentioned it was class 3 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale and will make Class 4. The slow-moving and erratic storm was anticipated to be a serious hurricane when it makes landfall early this week.
“Life-threatening and catastrophic flash flooding and landslides are anticipated in parts of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica into early subsequent week,” the centre mentioned in an announcement.
Hurricane Melissa has killed a minimum of three folks in Haiti and a fourth particular person within the Dominican Republic, the place one other particular person stays lacking.
The US Navy started evacuating a whole bunch of Americans and their pets to Florida from the bottom at Guantanamo Bay on Sunday AEDT, days earlier than the anticipated arrival in that portion of Cuba, The New York Occasions reported.
Heavy rain causes havoc in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from Melissa, then a tropical storm and now a Class 3 hurricane.Credit score: Ricardo Hernandez / AP
In Jamaica, greater than 650 shelters had been activated. Officers mentioned warehouses throughout the island had been effectively stocked and 1000’s of meals packages had been prepared for fast distribution if wanted.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness mentioned: “I urge Jamaicans to take this climate menace severely. Take all measures to guard your self.”
