Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall in Jamaica as ferocious Category 5 storm on Tuesday, has weakened slightly to a Category 4 but forecasters warn that it is still incredibly dangerous. The National Hurricane Center says Melissa lost some power while slowly making its way over the island's mountainous terrain, the Guardian reports. "Damaging winds will continue over portions of Jamaica this evening," the NHC said in a Tuesday evening update. "Catastrophic flash flooding, and landslides, are expected across the island tonight with widespread infrastructure damage, power and communication outages, and isolated communities."
Melissa is the strongest storm to hit Jamaica since records were first kept 174 years ago, the AP reports. It is tied for the strongest Atlantic hurricane to ever hit land. Landslides, fallen trees, and numerous power outages were reported as Melissa hit with 185 mph winds near New Hope, with officials cautioning that the cleanup and damage assessment could be slow. "There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5," Prime Minister Andrew Holness said. "The question now is the speed of recovery. That's the challenge."
- Floodwaters trapped at least three families in their homes in the community of Black River in western Jamaica, and crews were unable to help them because of dangerous conditions, said Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica's Disaster Risk Management Council. "Roofs were flying off," he said. "We are hoping and praying that the situation will ease so that some attempt can be made to get to those persons." He noted that extensive damage was reported in the southwestern parish of St. Elizabeth, which he said "is underwater."
- McKenzie said there are no confirmed reports of deaths and stressed that it was too early to talk about the extent of the damage because the hurricane was still pummeling the country. Rohan Brown, with Jamaica's Meteorological Service, warned that as Melissa moves off the coast, its counterclockwise rotation will bring a heavy storm surge to northern Jamaica through the night.
- The storm is headed toward Cuba, where it was expected to make landfall as a major hurricane early Wednesday.
story continues below
- Melissa was a beast that stood out as extreme even in a record number of monster storms spawned over the last decade in a superheated Atlantic Ocean, the AP reports. Melissa somehow shook off at least three different meteorological conditions that normally weaken major hurricanes and was still gaining power as it hit, scientists said.
- It achieved what's called extreme rapid intensification—gaining at least 58 mph over 24 hours. In fact, Melissa turbocharged by about 70 mph during a 24-hour period last week, and had an unusual second round of rapid intensification that spun it up to 175 mph, scientists said. "It's been ... just a beast of a storm," says Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
