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tropical storm melissa may soon become stronger in one powerful storm And move ahead of Jamaica, forecasters warn.
Hurricane in central Caribbean near standstill, but at risk of catastrophic damage flash flood and landslides in the southern haitiat least where three deaths Has already been informed.
Heavy rainfall is expected Jamaicasouthern Haiti, and Dominican Republic throughout the weekend as a result of irregular storms.
Michael Brennan, director of the US National Hurricane Center in Miami, highlighted the threat, saying: “Rainfall is a major threat with hurricanes. Rainfall has historically been the greatest cause of loss of life from tropical storms and hurricanes.” Caribbean,
The storm was located about 215 miles (345 kilometers) southeast and 250 miles (405 kilometers) southwest of Kingston, Jamaica. Port-au-PrinceHaiti. According to the US center, it maintained maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) and was moving to the east-southeast at a slow speed of 2 mph (4 kph).
Hurricane warnings and tropical storm warnings were in effect for Jamaica and the southwestern peninsula of Haiti. Up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain is expected to fall in parts of southwestern Haiti and eastern Jamaica by Monday, with higher amounts possible in some areas.
Up to 12 inches (30 cm) of rain was expected across the remainder of southern Haiti and the southern Dominican Republic.
Devastating warning for Haiti
National Hurricane Center It warned that heavy rain could cause devastating flooding and landslides in southwestern Haiti from this weekend to early next week.
“It was noted that strong winds on Haiti’s Tiburon Peninsula could potentially last for a day or longer.
Haiti’s civil protection agency said Friday that a landslide in Port-au-Prince killed two people and injured another, raising the death toll to three. Earlier this week, a large tree fell on and killed an elderly man in southern Haiti, while five other people were injured in flooding in the country’s central region.
The United Nations said it has prepared more than 100 emergency shelters in Haiti’s southern region.
slow motion disaster
Melissa was expected to slowly begin moving closer to Jamaica over the weekend. It was forecast to become a typhoon by Saturday and a major hurricane by Sunday, possibly reaching tier 4 Situation before dawn on Monday.
Forecasters said Jamaica could see life-threatening flooding and landslides as land is already under water from recent heavy rains unrelated to the storm.
The storm is moving so slowly that parts of Jamaica could experience hurricane conditions for 72 hours or more, said Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather’s chief hurricane specialist.
“Melissa is evolving into a slow-motion disaster,” he said. “Millions of people are at risk of catastrophic impact. We are concerned about the risk of humanitarian disaster, especially if this storm stalls.”
Schools, health centers and government offices were closed across Jamaica on Thursday, with officials warning that all airports would be closed within 24 hours if a hurricane warning was issued.
“The situation is really serious,” said Matthew Samuda, Jamaica’s minister of economic development and job creation.
The Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it would evacuate Bahamas students to Jamaica on Friday, ahead of the storm.
Flood situation persists in Dominican Republic
The storm damaged about 200 homes and destroyed dozens of water supply systems in the Dominican Republic, affecting more than half a million customers. It also downed trees and traffic lights and caused some small landslides.
All public schools in the Dominican Republic were closed Friday, while government offices in 12 provinces under alert would do the same, officials said. Nearly two dozen communities were cut off by flood waters.
“This is an event that we must monitor minute by minute,” said Juan Manuel Méndez García, emergency operations director in the Dominican Republic.
Officials noted that evacuations were mandatory in alert areas.
“The main thing here is to save lives. The risk is huge amounts of rain,” said Dominican President Luis Abinader.
Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, and the first named storm to hit the Caribbean this year.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted an above normal season with 13 to 18 named storms. Of those, five to nine were forecast to become hurricanes, including two to five major hurricanes, carrying winds of 111 mph (178 kph) or greater.
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30.