SANTO DOMINGO.- In Haiti, the floods caused by Hurricane Melissa caused the death of at least 25 people in the southern coastal town of Petit-Goâve, according to its mayor reported to the AssociatedPress agency.
Mayor Jean Bertrand Subrème declared that the La Digue River overflowed its banks and flooded nearby homes.
Dozens of houses collapsed and people were still trapped under the rubble on Wednesday morning, according to local reports. Only one official from Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency was in the area, as residents struggled to evacuate amid heavy rain and
the collapse of roads.
Haiti and the Turks and Caicos Islands were also preparing for more effects of the cyclone, given the persistence of rains and the risk of new landslides, according to US meteorologists.
Cuba resists
Authorities in Cuba reported collapsed houses, blocked mountain roads and
roofs torn off by the wind, with most of the destruction concentrated in the southwest and northwest of the country.
They indicated that some 735,000 people remained in shelters in the east of the island. “It was hell. The whole night was terrible,” said Reinaldo Charón in Santiago de Cuba. The 52-year-old was one of the few people who ventured outside on Wednesday, covered with a plastic tarp in the intermittent rain.
In the province of Granma, especially in the municipal capital Jiguaní, several areas were flooded, according to Governor Yanetsy Terry Gutiérrez. In the town of Charco Redondo, in Jiguaní, more than 40 centimeters of rain were recorded.
The hurricane could aggravate the serious economic crisis in Cuba, which is already facing prolonged blackouts and fuel and food shortages.
“There will be a lot of work to do. We know there will be a lot of damage,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz Canel said in a televised speech, urging the population not to underestimate the power of Melissa, “the strongest hurricane that has ever touched national territory.”
Melissa had maximum sustained winds of 155 km/h (100 mph) and was moving northeast at 22 km/h (14 mph), according to the United States National Hurricane Center, based in Miami. The center of the hurricane was about 245 kilometers (150 miles) south of the center of the Bahamas.
Melissa was forecast to continue weakening as it crosses Cuba, but would remain strong as it moves through the southeastern or central Bahamas on Wednesday afternoon. It was expected to arrive near or west of Bermuda on Thursday night.
Jamaica assesses damage
Hurricane Melissa left dozens dead and widespread destruction in Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti on
Wednesday, leaving residents without power and forcing them to abandon their homes in flooded towns.
In Jamaica, more than 25,000 people took refuge in shelters on Wednesday, and many more arrived in
throughout the day after the storm tore the roofs off their homes and temporarily left them
homeless.
Dana Morris Dixon, Minister of Education, reported that 77% of the island was without electricity.
“It’s not going to be an easy road, Jamaica,” said DesmondMcKenzie, vice president of the Disaster Risk Management Council. “I know there are people who wonder what the future holds for them.”
Melissa made landfall on Tuesday in Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm with maximum winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, before
heading towards Cuba.
But even countries outside the direct path felt its devastating effects.
A landslide blocked the main roads of Santa Cruz, in the parish of
St. Elizabeth, turning the streets into quagmires.
Residents swept water from their homes while trying to rescue their belongings.
The wind tore off part of the roof of a local high school, which served as a public shelter.
Residents say they have never seen anything like it.
Embassy
Jamaica
The Dominican ambassador in Jamaica, Manuel Durán, reported that, together with counselor Julio Rodríguez,
He headed to Montego Bay with the purpose of obtaining an overview of the situation of the Dominicans.
Melissa will continue to leave rain in the country
The atmospheric conditions in the Dominican Republic will remain under the influence of the large cloud field associated with Hurricane Melissa and the influence of the warm and humid wind from the south/southeast.
This will keep the environment conducive to the occurrence of heavy downpours, thunderstorms and gusts of wind, especially during the afternoon and evening.
The provinces on red alert are: Pedernales, Barahona, Independencia and Bahoruco.
On yellow alert are: San José de Ocoa, Elías Piña, Dajabón, Azua, San Cristóbal, Peravia, Monte Plata, San Juan and Montecristi.This article was originally published in The Day
