STRAIGHT. Hurricane Melissa: tropical storm reaches Jamaica, winds of almost 300 km/h

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Melissa is one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean.

Hurricane Melissa, “one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic,” made landfall on Tuesday in Jamaica, with winds of almost 300 kilometers per hour, the US National Hurricane Center announced.

Hurricane “Melissa made landfall in southwest Jamaica, near New Hope, with sustained winds estimated at 295 km/h,” the organization said in a statement. It was the most powerful hurricane that has ever hit the Caribbean country.

With winds of up to 280 kilometers per hour, the category 5 hurricane, the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale, is already responsible for three deaths in Jamaica.

According to Jamaican authorities, three people died while preparing by cutting branches and working on ladders.

According to the Red Cross, at least 1.5 million people, of the island’s 2.8 million inhabitants, could be affected.

“But this figure is greatly underestimated (…). The entire population could suffer the consequences in one way or another,” said Necephor Mghendi, head of the delegation of the International Federation of the Red Cross, at a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday.

Hello and welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica.

Hurricane Melissa could be the most violent to make landfall in the Caribbean country, where it threatens to cause catastrophic flooding and landslides.

The United States Hurricane Center (NHC) predicts “life-threatening” storms, flooding and devastation on a scale comparable to that caused by Hurricanes Maria in 2017 or Katrina in 2005, in Puerto Rico and New Orleans.