Evacuations ordered as Hurricane Melissa nears

Jamaican officials urged the public to get to higher ground and shelters ahead of Hurricane Melissa's expected landfall yesterday, with the prime minister warning it could bring massive devastation.

- 

The Category 5 storm — which could be the island’s most violent on record — is charting a painstakingly slow path through the Caribbean, and has already been blamed for three deaths in Jamaica, three deaths in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that Melissa was still 240 kilometres from Kingston late on Monday, and reaching maximum wind speeds of 281 kilometres per hour.

Its heavy rains combined with intense winds could wreak devastation on par with historic hurricanes, including 2017’s Maria or 2005's Katrina, which left indelible impacts on Puerto Rico and the US city of New Orleans.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is causing such massive storms to become increasingly common in the region.