Category 5 Melissa now set to make landfall in St Elizabeth

Hurricane Melissa has strengthened and is expected to make direct impact in western St Elizabeth over the next few hours.

Head of the Met office Evan Thompson, speaking at a press briefing at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management's (ODPEM) Emergency Centre in St Andrew on Tuesday morning, said the centre of the hurricane is still some distance away - approximately 75 kilometres from Jamaica's south western coastline.

The system is still moving slowly at 11 kilometres per hour or seven miles per hour in a north to north-eastern direction, Thompson said.

"...We did say that the system is a Category 5 hurricane at this time [and] when it makes landfall, it is expected to still be a Category 5 hurricane. That means it will cause catastrophic damage. Life-threatening damage. There is very little that can stop a Category 5 hurricane. And regardless of where you are in the parish of Westmoreland or St Elizabeth, if you are under the impact of those Category 5 hurricane-force winds, you will be having significant difficulty, even with infrastructure that's in the area.

"So, ensure that you are in the strongest area that you can. The recommendation from the Hurricane Centre is that you would have as many walls between yourself and the outside as you can, because it is important to reinforce yourself and to ensure that you are not left vulnerable to this system," Thompson said.

He said the system is expected to gradually reduce in strength as it moves over the island and is likely to fall to a Category 4 system and then possibly to Category 3.

Thompson said significant flooding is expected across the island with between 20 and 30 inches or 500 to 750 millilitres of rainfall affecting some sections.

"Flooding is expected. Landslides are expected. Storm surge is expected, and they, of course, those strong waves, we will not be able to escape, especially if you're in the path of this system and in the path, close to the eye of the system," he said, adding that Westmoreland, St Elizabeth, and Trelawny will experience Category 5 Hurricane force winds.

Tropical storm force winds are expected over the rest of the country.

He said several areas are expected to be inundated by storm surge, including Black River.

"We expect significant storm surge, although the centre is now expected to be somewhat over Black River. Storm surge could get as high as 30 in feet. That's high. 13 feet is a couple of stories high. And so you need to be very much prepared for that kind of activity if you're in any of those bays or inlets along the coast of St Elizabeth in particular, and even going into Clarendon - Portland Cottage, Rocky - and even along the coast of Manchester, parts of Alligator Pond.

"Treasure Beach area should also be looking out for that kind of activity and going eastward as far as St Catherine," said Thompson.

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