A senior government minister in Jamaica has called on people to follow mass evacuation orders, ahead of what could be the most ferocious storm to hit the country in decades.
Matthew Samuda, the minister of water, environment and climate change, implored residents to travel to shelters and reach high ground on Monday, as the government braced for Hurricane Melissa — the 45th Category 5 hurricane on record in the Atlantic.
“Heed the warnings. This is serious. It’s a devastating storm,” Samuda told CNN on Monday.
Communities on the coasts will be particularly exposed to destructive winds, catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storms — and seventy percent of the Jamaican population live within five kilometers of coasts, Samuda said.
The government has erected 800 shelters across the country, according to Samuda. Meanwhile, crews from the national bus service, the country’s defense forces and disaster preparedness unit are mobilizing mass evacuations.
“Go to the shelters. Go to higher ground because this can take lives,” he said.