KINGSTON: Hurricane Melissa, already a major category 4 storm, gathered steam on Sunday as it took aim at Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean, with forecasters predicting catastrophic flooding and urging residents to seek shelter immediately. Melissa has already been blamed for at least four deaths in Haiti and the Dominican Republic this week, as its outer bands brought heavy rains and landslides. The storm is moving at a worryingly slow pace -- just five miles (seven kilometers) an hour -- meaning areas in its path could see punishing conditions for far longer than a hurricane that passes by more quickly. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Melissa was packing maximum winds of about 145 miles (230 kilometers) per hour -- and would likely intensify into a top-level category 5 storm later Sunday. Up to 40 inches (about a meter) of rainfall could hit parts of Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, sparking flash flooding and more landslides. &quot;This extreme rainfall potential, owing to the slow motion, is going to create a catastrophic event here for Jamaica,&quot; NHC Deputy Director Jamie Rhome said in a webcast briefing. &quot;You need to just be wherever you&#39;re going to be and be ready to ride this out for several days,&quot; Rhome said. &quot;Conditions will deteriorate really, really rapidly here in the next few hours. Don&#39;t be out and about after sunset.&quot; A 79-year-old man was found dead in the Dominican Republic after being swept away in a stream, local officials said Saturday. A 13-year-old boy was missing. In neighboring Haiti, the civil protection agency reported the deaths of three people caused by storm conditions. &quot;You feel powerless, unable to do anything, just run away and leave everything behind,&quot; Angelita Francisco, a 66-year-old homemaker who fled her neighborhood in the Dominican Republic, told AFP through tears. Floodwater had inundated her house, causing her refrigerator to float away as trash bobbed around the home. Cannot bet against Melissa Jamaica was expected to see deteriorating conditions from Melissa through Sunday, with landfall not expected until late Monday or early Tuesday. &quot;Seek shelter now,&quot; the NHC advised residents. Winston Moxam was hurrying to prepare his home for the coming storm, telling AFP if &quot;I lose my roof, I lose a whole lot of things.&quot; He said he was particularly worried by warnings it could be worse than 1988&#39;s Hurricane Gilbert, which left over 40 dead in Jamaica and killed hundreds more around the Caribbean and in Mexico. The international airport in Kingston closed late Saturday, as did all seaports. Government official Desmond McKenzie told a briefing that storm shelters had been activated across the island nation. &quot;There is nothing more we can do as a government but to beg and beseech persons to heed the warning &nbsp;-- and if it will help, I will go on my knees,&quot; he said. &quot;This is one bet you cannot win. You cannot bet against Melissa,&quot; he warned. Provinces of red alertAt 2100 GMT, the hurricane was located about 115 miles south-southwest of Kingston and 295 miles south-southwest of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After passing over Jamaica, the storm was forecast to head north and cross eastern Cuba on Tuesday night, while continuing to bring rain and strong winds to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic&#39;s emergency operations center has placed nine of 31 provinces on red alert due to the risk of flash floods, rising rivers, and landslides. Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from early June to late November. The last major hurricane to impact Jamaica was Beryl in early July 2024 &mdash; an unusually strong storm for the time of year. Beryl brought downpours and strong winds to Jamaica as it moved past the island&#39;s southern coast, leaving at least four people dead.

Americas

Hurricane Melissa, a powerful Category 4 storm nearing Jamaica, threatens catastrophic flooding and landslides after killing four in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Forecasters warn it may strengthen to Category 5 with extreme rainfall.

Jamaica orders evacuations as hurricane Melissa nears, threatening catastrophic flooding

ANCHORAGE: Hundreds of residents from remote Alaska Native villages are being airlifted after a storm battered their low-lying communities over the weekend, wiping away homes and killing at least one person. Two others are missing. In one of the most significant airlifts in Alaska history, hundreds were being flown about 500 miles (800 kilometers) to Anchorage, after a shelter in the regional hub city of Bethel was filled with dozens of evacuees. Here are some things to know about the storm and the ongoing evacuation effort. How the situation unfoldedThe remnants of Typhoon Halong brought record storm surge to western Alaska on Sunday, devastating the tiny coastal villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, which saw water levels more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) above the highest normal tide line. In Kwigillingok, the US Coast Guard rescued two dozen people from their homes after the structures floated out to sea in high water. Ella Mae Kashatok, 67, was found dead in Kwigillingok, and authorities on Monday night called off the search for two men &mdash; Chester Kashatok, 41, and Vernon Pavil, 71 &mdash; after their home was swept away. Officials on Thursday said 121 homes were destroyed in Kipnuk, but all people have been accounted for. Small communities are hit hardThe villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok are near the Bering Sea and have a total population of around 1,000 people, almost all of whom identify as Alaska Native or American Indian, according to Census Bureau data. They are off the state&rsquo;s main road system and reachable this time of year only by water or by air. A video from Kwigillingok shows a house floating away as people on land speak Central Alaskan Yup&rsquo;ik, the largest of the Alaska Native languages. There are about 10,000 speakers of the language in 68 villages across southwest Alaska. The evacuation effort faces challengesMany of the evacuees were flown initially to Bethel, a regional hub of 6,000 people. But authorities worked to relocate them as shelters there approached capacity. A military plane took hundreds of evacuees from Bethel to Anchorage on Wednesday and Thursday, said Col. Christy Brewer of the Alaska National Guard. More flights were expected over the next two days. They were going to the Alaska Airlines Center, a sports and events complex, but more places were expected to open as temporary shelters, officials said. The shelter in Bethel, which was set up at a National Guard armory, was already facing difficulties, with food supply &ldquo;near depletion,&rdquo; FEMA officials said in a briefing report Thursday. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. warned on Wednesday the shelter at the armory would have to close. Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson for the state emergency management office, said he couldn&rsquo;t speak to the information in the FEMA document. But he was at the Bethel armory on Thursday and said they were serving three meals a day and there was food laid out and available. There were also supplies there, he said. He said the shelter that has been at the armory has become a &ldquo;transitional shelter&rdquo; where people arriving from impacted communities go through processing and stay overnight if needed before going on to places like Anchorage. Rebuilding will be difficultDamage assessments are still ongoing, but experts say the hardest-hit communities face a dire situation. Most construction materials will need to be flown or shipped in, and with winter fast approaching, time is running short. Emergency officials said some homes are beyond repair and unsafe to return to, even with emergency fixes.

Natural Disaster

Flooding from Typhoon Halong devastated Alaska’s coastal villages Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, destroying homes and forcing over 1,000 residents to evacuate. Survivors described chaos, fuel leaks, and loss of winter food supplies as airlifts to Anchorage continue.

Storm surge wipes out Alaska villages, over 1,000 evacuated

HANOI: Lingering heavy rains from a former typhoon caused more flooding and landslides in Vietnam, raising the death toll to 19 in the country, with more missing. Rainfall topped 30 centimetres (nearly a foot) in parts of Vietnam over the past 24 hours, the national weather agency said on Tuesday. It warned that heavy downpours would continue. The prolonged rain triggered flash floods and landslides that cut off roads and isolated communities from the northern mountains of Son La and Lao Cai provinces to central Nghe An province. Rivers swollen by downpours and dam discharges have caused widespread flooding and landslides in the north. The Thao River in Yen Bai rose well above emergency levels overnight, sending water up to a meter deep (3 feet) into homes and forcing evacuations. Many streets in the capital, Hanoi, were flooded, and authorities warned that people close to the Red River, which passes through the city, should take precautions. State media said Tuesday that authorities were still searching for 13 missing people, including eight fishermen. Bualoi had already caused at least 20 deaths in the Philippines since Friday. It made landfall in Vietnam early Monday, then lingered, which increased the danger. Global warming is making storms like these stronger and wetter, according to experts, since warmer oceans provide tropical storms with more fuel, driving more intense winds, heavier rainfall and shifting precipitation patterns across East Asia.

Heavy rains from former Typhoon Bualoi caused severe flooding and landslides across Vietnam, raising the death toll to 19, with 13 still missing. Authorities warn of continued downpours and rising river levels.

Articles tagged with "Flooding"

Jamaica orders evacuations as hurricane Melissa nears, threatening catastrophic flooding

Storm surge wipes out Alaska villages, over 1,000 evacuated

Typhoon Bualoi aftermath: flooding and landslides kill 19 in Vietnam