Jamaica orders evacuation as hurricane hits Caribbean

People in Jamaica have been told to evacuate as the “life-threatening” Hurricane Melissa bears down on the Caribbean island.

- MAIRA BUTT

The category 5 storm is expected to bring “catastrophic flash flooding”, “numerous landslides”, and a “life-threatening storm surge and damaging waves”, with maximum sustained wind speeds of up to 165mph, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

At least four people have already died, including three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic. One person remains missing.

The storm will sweep across Jamaica at the peak of its intensity, and is expected to lose force as it crosses the sea to reach Cuba, but will still have destructive power.

Melissa originated in west Africa, first forming a tropical wave that was picked up by monitors on 16 October. It crossed the Atlantic to the Windward Islands, and then moved slowly westward to the Caribbean Sea.