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Hurricane Melissa devastated areas of Caribbean Already at risk from landslides and flash floods due to factors worsened by decades of deforestation, the risk is likely to continue for days as the rainstorms continue, experts said.
These risks are exacerbated by the loss of trees and other vegetation that help hold soil in place and slow water runoff, as well as the development of roads in forested areas, experts said.
The full extent of the destruction was not clear Thursday morning. In JamaicaHazardous conditions and widespread power outages – especially in the hardest-hit areas in the West – have hampered assessment of the damage caused by the Category 5 storm, which packed sustained winds of 185 mph (298 kph) and dumped more than 3 feet (0.9 m) of rain in some areas.
“Things are still chaotic on the ground (so) we don’t know how bad it is,” said Nicole Liautaud, executive director of the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute, adding that her organization is worried because it has not been able to contact partners in western Jamaica.
“I think it’s going to be catastrophic,” Liautaud said, adding that landslides and flooding were already common with any heavy rain, let alone one of the most powerful. atlantic Storm on record.
Landslides blocked main roads in Santa Cruz in St. Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica, where part of the roof of a high school serving as a public shelter was blown into the air.
More than 25,000 people remained in shelters in the western part of the country on Thursday and 77% of the island was without power. Government workers and residents were clearing roads to try to reach isolated communities that came under direct attack, and officials said they found at least four bodies in southwestern Jamaica.
Jamaica’s Transport Minister Daryl Vaz said, “The devastation is enormous.”
In CubaPeople began clearing blocked roads and highways with heavy equipment, while the military helped rescue people trapped in isolated communities at risk of landslides.
Landslides and deforestation
Due to the hilly and mountainous terrain, volcanic soil, and earthquake activity, approximately half of Jamaica is considered at high risk of landslides, with 30% at very high risk. AP analysis of NASA data shows the island is one of the most vulnerable to landslides in the Caribbean.
According to Global Forest Watch data, Jamaica lost 7.4% of its tree cover from 2001–2024, primarily due to permanent land conversion to agriculture. Over roughly the same period, 2002-2024, humid primary forests accounted for one-fifth of total tree-cover loss – “particularly relevant because they are old-growth forests (and) once they’re gone, it’s going to take a very long time for them to recover,” said Elizabeth Goldman, co-director of Global Forest Watch.
The loss of vegetation near waterways also makes floods more “flashy” or faster-moving, threatening people’s lives and homes because “they’re not able to get out fast enough,” said Maria Uriarte, a professor of ecology, evolution and environmental biology at Columbia University. “This is extremely dangerous.”
Climate change is increasing the risk of major hurricanes and flooding across the Caribbean, he said, as a warmer atmosphere holds more water and warmer oceans provide the fuel that supercharges storms.
experts Parts of the ocean under Melissa were said to be 2 °C (3.6 °F) warmer than the long-term average for this time of year, allowing the storm to undergo extremely rapid intensification.
But even in the absence of hurricanes, the Caribbean region is becoming more vulnerable to floods and landslides as a pattern of very heavy rainfall followed by drought is increasing, said Leotaud of the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute.
“So this has become a very common thing… even a little rain causes floods,” he said.
This makes the storm even more dangerous, he said.
“Everybody in the region is very afraid every hurricane season,” Leotaud said. “Every year everyone is very traumatized.”
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