Cyclone Melissa Gains Power As It Barrels Toward the Island Nation
Hurricane the storm is projected to escalate to a uncommon highest-level cyclone as it turns toward Jamaica, causing deadly rapid inundation and mudslides.
The cyclone, which recorded winds of up to 195 km/h as of 6:00 AM GMT, is now shifting toward the northwest in the Caribbean region and is expected to make landfall by midweek, according to meteorological authorities.
Advisories of power cuts and disruption to utilities have been announced as this storm generates up to 76cm of rainfall and sea level surges as high as 4m above ground. "Seek shelter now," residents have been told.
This hurricane is the 13th cyclone in the ongoing Atlantic season, which usually concludes in November.
Highest-Level Hurricane Risk
A category five cyclone is the strongest type, with winds of at least 157 miles per hour.
Although Melissa is expected to diminish in strength to a Category 4 hurricane before reaching Jamaica, meteorologists said there was "very little practical difference in the total effects" upon making contact with land, and that the storm will be "just as powerful" when it strikes the island.
Immediate Readiness Measures
With storm-force wind and rainfall anticipated well in advance long before it passes over Jamaica's central region - perhaps encompassing the capital, Kingston - alerts state that "safety measures need to be finalized quickly".
"A multi-day period of damaging winds and heavy rainfall have begun and will cause catastrophic and life-threatening rapid water accumulation and multiple landslides," counseled climate experts.
The nation's leader Andrew Holness stated: "I understand that there are many Jamaicans who are anxious, who are extremely apprehensive, and appropriately: concern is justified.
"Yet the optimal approach to manage worry and any apprehension and anxiety is to be prepared."
Inhabitants are being instructed to protect their properties with sandbags and timber panels, and to accumulate essentials.
Broader Consequences
Advisories are also ongoing for parts of Haiti such as the main city, Port au Prince, the Dominican Republic and Cuba's eastern region, where Melissa is projected to bring similar effects by the middle of next week.
Rock slides already being caused by the storm have caused two deaths in the country, according to local authorities.
Future Path
The hurricane is projected to move across the island nation by midweek before passing across the Caribbean archipelago and out into the Atlantic Ocean.
By the time it reaches Cuba, it is forecast to have diminished to a category three storm.
Weather Connection
Even though it is hard to associate particular meteorological occurrences to climate change, researchers say it is resulting in meteorological events increasingly frequent and more extreme.
Increased sea temperatures create additional humidity in the atmosphere, helping fuel the formation of storms.
Prior to the beginning of the current Atlantic hurricane season, meteorological authorities forecast above-normal activity, mentioning elevated ocean temperatures and potential more intense weather patterns around the western African continent - where tropical systems typically originate.
