MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica — Hurricane Melissa is now a massive Category 5 storm as it nears Jamaica, where it will bring life-threatening storm surge.
Melissa is forecast to make landfall on the island Tuesday. It will then impact Cuba and the Bahamas through Wednesday.
Local 10 News reporter Aaron Maybin was at the Emergency Operation Center in Montego Bay Monday where he spoke with Mayor Richard Vernon.
“Is Montego Bay ready for this major hurricane?” Maybin asked the mayor.
“Montego Bay is as ready as Montego Bay can be,” Vernon said. “And ready means that our agencies, they are on standby, they are ready, they have mobilized their officers or equipment have been mobilized, and we have done preparation work leading up to this point in time.”
“We have clean drains,” the mayor continued. “We have done our shelter managers training. We actually did our shelter inspections in the June period -- that’s the start of the hurricane season. This is what we do every year, so we are as ready as we can be. We are just now in a wait and see.”
On Monday morning, the wind was picking up in Kingston, Jamaica, and at St. Andrews parish, the streets were looking quiet and nearly empty as people were bracing for Melissa’s impact.
Officials have ordered people to evacuate and get to safety while they can.
Many have put up sandbags outside homes and businesses.
Maybin spoke to some tourists who were stranded in Montego Bay, including people from the United Kingdom, South Carolina and even a man from Pembroke Pines.
The South Florida man said his wife is back home in Broward County and is nervous because he can’t return home at this time.
There was definitely a feeling of uneasiness and concern for both locals and tourists as they await Hurricane Melissa.
On Monday, conditions were still calm, but local leaders were telling everyone there to brace for a direct hit.
With Hurricane Melissa barreling toward Jamaica, last minute preparations are underway.
On Sunday morning, people were rushing to catch flights out of the island before the airport in Montego Bay shut down.
“We’d rather leave and be safe than stay here and be stuck in a hurricane,” Lisa Hayashi said.
Shelters and emergency operation centers are open across the nation.
“If the projections are correct, nobody can be ready for this,” Deputy Prime Minister Horace Chang told Local 10 News.
Hurricane Melissa is expected to produce torrential rain and catastrophic flooding.
The most dangerous conditions are possible Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Fishing communities are pulling boats onto land and in Kingston, workers are stacking sandbags, preparing for heavy rainfall and flooding.
In Montego Bay, businesses boarded up as Melissa gets closer.
“Five days already. It’s not good,” one man said.
On Sunday afternoon, local officials said too many people living in low lying areas did not heed evacuation advice.
The government says it’s positioning generators and plans to deploy more than 50 once the storm passes.
The goal is to restore power to 80% of the country within 72 hours of the all clear.
Leaders on Monday said they are concerned when it comes to flash flooding and the possibility of landslides across the island.
Dangerous storm surge is also expected to hit the southern portion of the island.
Melissa is the strongest hurricane in recent history to directly hit the small Caribbean nation.
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