The Jamaica government Wednesday confirmed that four people had been killed after Hurricane Melissa, a then category 5 storm tore through the island on Tuesday with maximum sustained winds of 180 miles per hour (mph).
Local Government and Community Development Minister, Desmond McKenzie, who had earlier indicated that there had been no reports of deaths associated with the hurricane, said in a statement that the four persons had died in St Elizabeth, one of the largest parishes, located in the southwest of the island and that their bodies had washed up by the flood waters generated by the hurricane.
“These persons are, by all indications, direct victims of the hurricane, and I am hoping that there will be no more fatalities,” McKenzie said.
“Despite the fact that deaths are always possible during severe climatic events, your Government works with the constant optimism that all lives will be spared. This is therefore a deeply regrettable development, and the Government expresses sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims.
“I also want to urge everyone once again to remain cautious and to heed the information coming from the Meteorological Service, which is that a flash flood watch is in effect for the island. More importantly, heavy rains are expected to dump three to six inches of water across Jamaica today. Let us all be careful and do all we can to ensure that no more lives are lost,” McKenzie added.
Prior to the passage of the storm, Jamaican authorities had confirmed three deaths, including one man being electrocuted, as people were taking precautionary measures to deal with the storm.
McKenzie earlier told reporters that the general overview is that the country continues to experience the effects of Hurricane Melissa and that there have been various road blocks, downed utility lines mainly in the western section of the island, where the storm hit the most.
He said more than 25,000 people have gone to the various shelters and “since last night more persons have been going into the shelters, and especially in the parishes that have been badly affected, a lot of homes have been destroyed so persons are now going to the shelters.
“We are going to be looking at a long term basis as to how we are going to deal with the numbers, but I want to say to all shelter managers, parish disaster coordinators and to the Municipal Corporations, no one must be turned back from the shelters.
“No one, and we are not contemplating closing any shelters. Once we have done the assessment and to see which shelters can be closed we will do so. But for the remainder of this week no shelters must be closed, all shelters must remain open.” (CMC)
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