Jamaica declares disaster as ‘Monstrous Melissa’ Clips

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has declared Jamaica a “disaster area” after Hurricane Melissa hit the Caribbean island as one of the strongest storms, leaving a trail of destruction.

The storm – which made the entire area a category 5 on Tuesday – tore roofs off homes, filled the nation’s “breadbasket”, and left 2.8 million people without power.

Melissa took several hours to cross Jamaica, a land crossing that reduced its winds, and dropped it in stage 3, before returning to its normal state. continue on Wednesday he headed to Cuba.

Holness said in a series of posts on x that the storm has “destroyed” his country and the disaster declaration gives his government tools to continue managing” its response to the storm.

“It is clear that where the eye of the storm hits, there will be a negative impact,” he told the United States news channel CNN until Tuesday. “The reports we have received so far include damage to hospitals, extensive damage to residential, commercial and residential property as well as damage to our road infrastructure.”

Holness said he has no confirmed reports of deaths at this time. “But with a Hurricane 5 Hurricane, … We expect to lose some life,” he added.

The Prime Minister said that his Government is immediately coordinating efforts to begin relief and recovery efforts on Wednesday morning.

Even before Melissa landed in Jamaica, three deaths – three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic – were caused by the storm.

Desmond McKenzie, Jamaica’s Minister of Government, told the audience on Tuesday evening that the storm had damaged almost every region in the country and left most of the island without electricity.

He said the storm had put the St Elizabeth region, a key agricultural region, “under water”.

“The damage to St. Elizabeth is strong, based on what we have seen,” said the Minister, adding that “almost all parishes are facing blocked roads, many poles, and excessive flooding in many communities.”

“Work is currently underway to restore our service, to give priority to critical facilities, such as hospitals and water and pumping stations,” added the pumping stations.

The storm caused “significant damage” to at least four hospitals, Minister of Health and Welfare Christopher Tufton told a Jamaican newspaper.

‘Monstrous Melissa’

Robian Williams, a reporter with News Net New News Radio in Kingston, told Al Jazeera the storm was “the worst we’ve ever had”.

“It’s really sad, it’s devastating,” she said from the capital.

“We call Hurricane Melissa ‘Monstrous Melissa’ here in Jamaica because of how powerful it was.

“We prepared, but there wasn’t much we could do.”

In Kingston, Lisa Sangter, a 30-year-old communications professional, said her home was badly damaged by the storm.

“My sister … explained that parts of our roof were hit and other parts of it and the whole house was flooded,” she told AFP News Agency. “Outbuildings such as our outdoor kitchen, dog breaks and farm animal shelters were also ransacked and destroyed.”

Matthew Tapper, 31, told AFP that those in the capital were ‘lucky’ but he feared for people in Jamaica’s rural areas more.

“My heart goes out to the people who live only on the west side of this island,” he said.

Melissa BurnedHeth

The US National Hurricane Center warned Tuesday night that Melissa was carrying hurricanes as she approached eastern Cuba.

“It is expected to make a shelter there as a very dangerous storm in the next few hours,” the agency said at 11PM Cuba time on Tuesday (03:00 GMT Wednesday).

Authorities in Cuba have evacuated more than 700,000 people, according to Granma, the official newspaper, and forecasters say the category 4 storm will wreak catastrophic damage in Santiago de Cuba and nearby areas.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Holguin and Lolguin and Las Tunas and the central and central Bahamas. A hurricane watch was in effect for Bermuda.

The storm was expected to produce a storm surge of up to 3.6 meters (12ft) in the region and drop up to 51cm (20 inches) of rain in parts of Eastern Cuba.

“There will be a lot of work to do. We know there will be a lot of damage,” said President Miguel Diaz-Canel in an address in which he confirmed that there are no resources and no resources are spared to protect people’s lives.

At the same time, he urged Cubans not to underestimate the power of Typhoon Melissa, “which is strong enough to reach the region of the country”.

Climate change

Although Jamaica and Cuba are used to hurricanes, Climate change it makes storms worse.

British-Jamaican climate change activist Cleaplan and author Mikaela Loach said in a video shared on social media that Melissa “got power illegally tropical oceans in the Caribbean”.

“Ocean temperatures are natural,” Lach said. “They are very hot because of the gasses that result from the burning of the oil on the slopes.”

“Countries like Jamaica, countries that are at high risk of climate disaster are also countries that are begging for their wealth and conditions through colonialism,” Loach added.

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly Esgn.

“Climate change is not a distant threat or an academic consideration. It is a daily reality for a small developing island in the Jamaican Strait,” he said.

Jamaica is responsible for only 0.02 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, which cause global warming, according to data from the World Resources Institute.

But like other tropical islands, they are expected to continue to bear the effects of increasing climate effects.