Hurricane Melissa

Minister's final warning: "No time to be brave"

Hurricane Melissa is expected to reach Jamaica soon. At a press conference ahead of the historic storm, Minister Desmond McKenzie said that almost 6,000 people have sought shelter in various parts of the country.

McKenzie said that there is still time to seek shelter but stressed that the authorities will not be able to give any more updates during the day.

- This is no time to be brave. Do not take any chances, this is a fight we cannot win, he says in a speech to the nation according to the BBC.

The government has warned that the hurricane, which is expected to be the most powerful in the country ever, could have catastrophic consequences in the coming time.

1.5 million could be affected: "The storm of the century"

The Red Cross is preparing for the fact that 1.5 million people in Jamaica could be directly affected by Hurricane Melissa, writes Sky News. That is just over half of Jamaica's population.

– For Jamaica, this will undoubtedly be the storm of the century, says Anne-Claire Fontan, an expert on tropical storms at the World Meteorological Organization.

SVT meteorologist Jannike Geitskaret says there will be enormous flooding with power outages across the island nation and destroyed infrastructure.

– People will have to live with the consequences of the hurricane for several weeks.

Melissa is expected to make landfall on Tuesday afternoon, local time. According to the Washington Post, it will take about six hours before the storm leaves Jamaica and moves on to Bermuda.

Several media outlets are reporting that the hurricane has now surpassed Hurricane Katrina, which hit the New Orleans area in 2005, in intensity.

Tourists about the strange calm: “The birds have disappeared”

Tourists in Jamaica are talking about a strange calm ahead of Hurricane Melissa’s arrival, reports the BBC.

– It feels like something is coming, the birds have disappeared and everything is completely silent. It feels like a ghost town, says Rebecca Chapman, a British tourist in Lucea, to the BBC.

Chapman is celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary in Jamaica. She lives with her husband and three teenage sons in a hotel by the sea. Their hotel room is located about ten meters from the water, but they have been moved to a more protected room.

Hundreds of evacuation centers have been set up in Jamaica but according to authorities, many residents have been reluctant to leave their homes.

Hurricane Melissa is a level 5, the highest classification. It is the most powerful storm on Earth so far this year, writes CNN.