Hurricane Melissa reached Category 5 intensity Monday as it prepared to make landfall in Jamaica, weather officials reported.
Forecasters expect the monster storm to reach the northern Caribbean island Tuesday morning, potentially delivering floods, landslides, and massive property damage.
Michael Brennan, director of the National Weather Service’s (NWS) National Hurricane Center, reported in an update Monday afternoon that the system could be catastrophic.
“We’re expecting destructive winds in the eyewall of Melissa as it makes landfall and moves across the island,” Brennan reported. “We could have complete destruction of shelters, homes, and buildings in the path of that eyewall, not just along the coast but in areas of high terrain across the central part of the island as the center of Melissa moves across the island during the day on Tuesday.”…