The Meteorological Service of Jamaica (Met Service) has advised that Tropical Storm Melissa has strengthened into a Category One hurricane and is expected to rapidly intensify into a major system, according to the latest bulletin issued at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday (October 25).

At that time, the system was located near latitude 16.6 degrees North and longitude 75.2 degrees West—approximately 179 kilometres (111 miles) southeast of Morant Point, or 230 kilometres (145 miles) southeast of Kingston.

The system is currently moving toward the west-northwest at approximately two kilometres per hour (km/h), or one mile per hour (mph). The Hurricane Warning issued for Jamaica remains in effect.

Principal Director of the Met Service, Evan Thompson, has advised that Hurricane Melissa is projected to make landfall along Jamaica’s southern coastline by Tuesday (October 28) morning.

He provided the update during a special press briefing on national preparedness efforts, held at Jamaica House on Saturday.

Mr. Thompson indicated that Jamaica is expected to experience considerable rainfall over the next three days.

“We are basically starting to experience the rainfall; you would have experienced some brief showers already because of the cloud mass,” he said.

Mr. Thompson explained that as the weather system approaches the island, it is projected to produce between 15 and 25 inches of rainfall, which could result in severe flooding as the hurricane moves across Jamaica.

“That is significant. When we have two inches of rainfall, it’s [a lot]. So when we talk about 15 to 25 inches, this is much more than you can even imagine to experience. This is a major rain producing event… it is considered to be producing catastrophic flooding,” the Principal Director emphasised.

Mr. Thomson noted that there have been confirmed reports of fatalities in Haiti linked to the severe weather system. Consequently, he urges Jamaicans to take all necessary precautions, especially those residing in low-lying and flood-prone areas, as the system continues to intensify.

“You must find a way to build a relationship with somebody who will help you to move from that area or move to those shelters as soon as they are open, and make sure that you are able to ride out this whole system,” Mr. Thompson stated.