KINGSTON, Jamaica– Hurricane Melissa quickly strengthened into a major Category 3 hurricane as it unleashed torrential rains across the northern Caribbean and threatened catastrophic flooding and landslides in Jamaica and southern Haiti.
US forecasters warned that the slow-moving Melissa is expected to further strengthen and become a major hurricane when it makes landfall in Jamaica early next week. It should be near or over Cuba by midweek.
“I urge Jamaicans to take this climate threat seriously,” said Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness. “Take all measures to protect yourself.”
Melissa was centered about 125 miles (200 kilometers) south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 280 miles (455 kilometers) west-southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Saturday night. It had maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph) and was moving west at 3 mph (6 kph), the hurricane center said.
Melissa was expected to drop torrential rains of up to 30 inches in Jamaica and southern Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), according to the hurricane center.
The Cuban government issued a hurricane warning on Saturday afternoon for the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo and Holguín.
The erratic, slow-moving storm has killed at least three people in Haiti and a fourth in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.
“Unfortunately for places along the projected path of this storm, it’s getting more dire,” Jamie Rhome, the center’s deputy director, said earlier Saturday. He said the storm will continue to move slowly for up to four days.
Jamaican authorities said Saturday that Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston will be closed at 8 p.m. local time. He did not say whether he would close Sangster Airport in Montego Bay, on the western side of the island.
In Jamaica, more than 650 shelters were activated. Officials said warehouses across the island were well stocked and thousands of food packages were prepared for rapid distribution if necessary.
Haitian authorities said three people had died as a result of the hurricane and five others were injured due to the collapse of a wall. There were also reports of rising river levels, flooding and the destruction of a bridge due to river banks breaking in Sainte-Suzanne in the northeast.
“The storm is causing a lot of concern because of the way it is moving,” said Ronald Délice, director of Haiti’s civil protection department, as local authorities organized lines to distribute food kits. Many residents are still reluctant to leave their homes.
The storm has damaged nearly 200 homes in the Dominican Republic and brought down water supply systems, affecting more than half a million customers. It also downed trees and traffic lights, triggered a pair of small landslides and left more than two dozen communities isolated by flooding.
The Bahamas Department of Meteorology said Melissa could bring tropical storm or hurricane conditions to the southeastern and central islands of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands early next week.
Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had forecast an above-normal season with between 13 and 18 named storms.
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Associated Press writer Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, contributed to this report.