Hurricane Melissa has made landfall in Jamaica
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Pia Chevallier, from Cambridge, is on holiday in Jamaica and has been sheltering with her son at a resort 40 minutes away from Montego Bay, and she has been describing the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. "We have just been allowed to get some breakfast but the damage is absolutely horrendous," Chevallier tells BBC News.
Hurricane Melissa tore a path of destruction across Jamaica on Tuesday, prompting the prime minister to declare the country a disaster area, after the storm made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane, one of the most powerful landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin.
The director of apostolates for a Jamaica-based religious community serving the poor in Kingston said Oct. 28 that the Category-5 Hurricane Melissa seems to be sparing Kingston the worst of its wrath. But he added that the storm was not yet finished and much remained unknown about the historic hurricane’s impact in the region.
Melissa is a Category 5 storm with sustained wind speeds of 185 mph (295 kph). It was expected to slice diagonally across the island, entering near St.
KINGSTON, JAMAICA — Ahead of Hurricane Melissa making landfall in Jamaica, ADM suspended operations at its flour mill in Kingston and its facility in Montego Bay until after the storm passed, a company spokesman said the afternoon of Oct. 28.
Heavy floodwaters swept southwestern Jamaica, winds tore roofs off buildings and boulders tumbled onto roads Tuesday as Hurricane Melissa came ashore as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.
The Category 5 hurricane tore a path of destruction across the island, causing major flooding and power cuts. Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the country a "disaster area."
Most of the island of two million people was without internet service, and major airports were closed. Kingston, the capital, was mostly spared.
The U.S. State Department has raised its Jamaica travel advisory to Level 3 following Hurricane Melissa, warning of natural disaster risks, crime and limited medical services.
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