Hurricane Melissa live updates: Category 5 storm makes landfall near Jamaica’s New Hope, winds up to 300km/h; multiple killed in Jamaica, Haiti and Dominican Republic

Hurricane Melissa has started to pull away from Jamaica and is now heading towards eastern Cuba, according to the latest update by the National Hurricane Centre.

Residents in Jamaica have been urged to remain in a safe shelter, as damaging winds are likely to continue over parts of the island throughout the evening.

Catastrophic flash-flooding and landslides are also expected throughout the night, leading to infrastructure damage, and power and communication outages.

Heavy rainfall, flash-flooding and landslides are also expected to hit eastern Cuba soon, with life-threatening storm surges and damaging winds due to start later today.

Haiti and Dominican Republic are also expected to experience flooding and landslides in parts of the country over the next day or so, which could leave communities in Haiti isolated.

In Central Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, residents are encouraged to prepare ahead of hurricane conditions and storm surges from Wednesday local time.

Similar conditions could hit Bermuda, where a hurricane watch is now in place, from Thursday local time.

Misinformation may have hampered efforts to evacuate Jamaicans from high-risk areas before the arrival of Hurricane Melissa, the country’s government officials say.

Three separate Jamaican MPs expressed concern at false and misleading information circulating on social media and messaging apps in the lead-up to the storm making landfall.

Minister of information Dana Morris Dixon said she had seen fake videos of the hurricane circulating online, including through a number of WhatsApp groups.

Two other ministers also warned about spreading “false and malicious” misinformation, including reports about storm shelters charging fees to those seeking shelter and inaccurate information about what locations were being hit by flooding, according to NBC News.

“What is happening is that there is an attempt by persons with bad intention to create confusion at this time,” Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie said.

“The country doesn’t need confusion at this time.”

As of Monday evening, only 1700 people had evacuated to 130 shelters opened across the island, despite authorities expecting 50,000 of Jamaica’s 2.8 million residents to be displaced.

Reports have emerged of residents in the island’s south, the area most affected by the weather front, staying behind to protect their businesses, despite warnings from authorities that the area could experience catastrophic damage.

One exception was the small community of Old Harbor, just west of Kingston, where about 200 people crowded in the shelter.

“It’s definitely more than last time,” said Jason Fuller, a firefighter and shelter volunteer, referring to the number of people that sought shelter from Hurricane Beryl last year.

In the past, Jamaicans have complained about the safety in shelters and the lack of basic goods.

“I am feeling safe and OK,” said a cheerful 13-year-old girl who only provided her first name as Natanya.

With AP

The United Nations International Organisation for Migration says it will dispatch solar lamps, blankets, indoor tents, generators and other items from its logistics hub in Barbados to Jamaica as soon as the storm crosses the island.

“Many people are likely to be displaced from their homes and [are] in urgent need of shelter and relief,” said Natasha Greaves, interim head for IOM Jamaica.

Meanwhile, the nonprofit Direct Relief said it had two packages with enough medications to treat 3000 people in one month staged in Panama and ready to deploy to Jamaica.

It also will send a shipment of 100 field medic packs from its warehouse in California to Jamaica as soon as the island’s main international airport reopens.

The British government also said it was ready to deliver humanitarian aid if requested. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said she spoke to her Jamaican counterpart Kamina Johnson Smith “to offer the UK’s full support and solidarity, and we are prepared to mobilise resources at their request”.

The Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston could start accommodating relief flights from as early as Thursday, but uncertainty remains over other airports in the weather front’s path.

Jamaican Transport Minister Daryl Vaz said Hurricane Melissa, which is forecast to leave the country by the end of Tuesday local time, had not caused extensive damage to the international airport.

He said most of Wednesday would be spent cleaning up and restoring and testing equipment at the airport before accommodating the emergency flights.

However, Vaz said the weather front could have a “potential disabling impact” on Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay.

“We are not sure what will happen in Montego Bay,” he said.

Meanwhile, China has aid parcels ready for Cuba ahead of Melissa’s arrival.

China’s ambassador to Cuba posted a video on X showing the transportation of hundreds of boxes of what he called “family kits,” along with pictures of their contents: footwear, toothbrushes, forks, spoons, bowls, umbrellas and thermal blankets, among others.

“The damage is expected to be considerable,” Hua Xin wrote. The products were pre-positioned in eastern Cuba ahead of the hurricane and were delivered by the Chinese Red Cross to its Cuban counterpart.

With AP

Residents in parts of Jamaica have been put on high alert for crocodiles, as heavy rains and flooding could potentially displace the animals from their natural habitat.

In a statement posted on Instagram, South East Regional Health Authority said residents in Kingston, St Andrew, St Catherine and St Thomas should exercise extreme caution.

“Rising water levels in rivers, gullies, and swamps could cause crocodiles to move into residential areas,” the authority said.

“Residents living near these areas are therefore advised to remain vigilant and avoid floodwaters.”

They should also keep children and pets away from water and avoid attempting to capture displaced crocodiles.

The authority said hospitals remained on high alert to provide emergency and medical assistance, but smaller health centres remained closed.

The American crocodile is the only crocodile species found in Jamaica. At home in mangroves and coastal lagoons, the reptiles are found mainly along the southern coast from St Thomas to Westmoreland.

Hurricane Melissa has been downgraded to a category 4 as it continues to track over north-western Jamaica, in the latest update by the National Hurricane Centre.

The weather front is still expected to bring further catastrophic winds, flash flooding and storm surges across Jamaica.

“This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation,” the update – posted just after 7am AEDT – read.

“Residents should not leave their shelter and should remain in place through the passage of these life-threatening conditions.

“People should protect themselves from the wind, shelter in an interior room without windows, and use a mattress or helmet for additional protection.”

The front is about 15 kilometres south of Montego Bay, and 345 kilometres south-west of Guantànamo, in Cuba. It is moving at a speed of about 13km/h.

Hurricane Melissa’s 295km/h winds and 892 millibars of central pressure tied two records for the strongest Atlantic storm on landfall.

The pressure – the key measurement meteorologists use – ties 1935’s Labor Day hurricane in Florida.

The wind speed ties the 1935 hurricane and 2019’s Hurricane Dorian, said hurricane scientists Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University and Brian McNoldy of the University of Miami.

“It’s been a remarkable, just a beast of a storm,” Klotzbach told AP.

Winds atop hills and mountains, meanwhile, will be even more destructive, with some reaching up to 30 per vent stronger than those at the surface, Jack Beven, a senior hurricane specialist at the US National Hurricane Centre wrote in a forecast.

Bloomberg reported that Melissa’s winds clocked in at 346km/h about 2500 feet (760 metres) above sea level, according to measurements collected by hurricane hunter aircraft before landfall.

More footage of the destruction caused by Hurricane Melissa is emerging online as the weather front continues to move towards Cuba.

A video posted by local newspaper Jamaican Observer shows fast-moving floodwaters sweeping through Santa Cruz, a town in St Elizabeth, on the island’s southern coast.

At least two cars appear to be caught in the brown floodwaters, which have turned the street into a raging river.

Another video, also shared by the newspaper, shows stacks of debris washed ashore at Great Bay, where a roof appears to have partially collapsed.

In Black River, also on Jamaica’s south coast, part of a building’s roof appears to have been partially ripped off by the wind. The banging of metal sheets can be heard in the background, as the camera pans across a debris-covered, partly flooded room.

It comes amid reports by the Jamaican Observer that a section of the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital in Westmoreland, has had part of its roof torn off.

Jamaica is expecting to suffer catastrophic damage above its disaster response capabilities from Hurricane Melissa.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness told CNN earlier it was too dangerous for emergency services to operate at the southern end of Jamaica, where the weather front made landfall earlier this morning.

“The impact is really in the south of the island, and I am praying for those residents. We have been preparing and we have been praying for the best,” he said.

Holness said there were reports of flooding and landslides in other parts of the country, with hurricane-like winds forecast to sweep through those areas.

He said so far three people had died as a result of suffering accidents while taking precautionary measures like cleaning debris.

Asked about reports that residents were choosing to stay in evacuation areas to protect their property, Holness said now was not the time to do so.

“There’s nothing you will be able to do in a category 5 storm to protect your property,” Holness said.

Jamaican authorities predict some 50,000 of Jamaica’s 2.8 million population could be displaced by the weather front.

But as of Monday evening, only about 1700 had evacuated to shelters, according to Jamaican Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie.