Hurricane Melissa, record storm surge sets sights on Jamaica

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Jamaican authorities are keeping a wary eye on the coast as Hurricane Melissa prepares to make landfall in the Caribbean country on Tuesday morning, becoming the strongest storm in the country's recorded history.

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The Category 5 storm will be the strongest to hit the island nation since record-keeping began in 174 years.

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“There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand Category 5,” Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said.

“The question now is the speed of recovery. That's the problem.”

Slow moving powerful storm

As the storm approached, trees and power lines were downed and residents faced devastating landslides in heavy rain and wind.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says buildings in the path of Melissa's eye could experience “total structural failure” and says maximum sustained winds are reaching 280 km/h and the storm is moving north at 11 km/h – a dangerously slow speed for such a powerful storm.

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In addition to winds and rain, areas in southern Jamaica will face storm surges of up to four meters (13 feet), adding devastating flooding to the list of disasters Jamaicans will face on Tuesday.

Fears of flooding have prompted health officials to move patients in western Jamaica hospitals to higher floors to avoid rising water, Jamaica's Health Minister Christopher Tufton told The Associated Press.

Melissa's eye is expected to make landfall on the southwestern edge of the island and head north toward the tourist hotspot and cruise ship terminal of Montego Bay, about 123 km away. west of Jamaica's capital Kingston.

Not everyone obeys evacuation orders

Meanwhile, officials across the island did their best to prepare for the devastating storm, with media reporting that streets across Kingston were largely empty and aid officials setting up temporary shelters for displaced residents.

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But despite the danger, many residents refuse to leave their homes.

“There are some brave souls who choose to stay with their property,” said Esther Pinnock of the Jamaica Red Cross.

“We wish them all the best.”

Meanwhile, in Cuba, authorities are evacuating nearly 600,000 people from the path of the hurricane as Melissa plans to cut a swath through the eastern parts of that country, between Camagüey and Holguin.

Hurricane warnings are in effect in the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and Holguin. Up to two feet of rain and significant coastal storm surges are expected.

– With files from Associated Press and FRANCE 24.

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