Hurricane Melissa has been upgraded to level 5. It could hit Jamaica with full force next Tuesday, causing significant disruption to the port of Kingston with catastrophic weather conditions. Melissa has already killed four people this week on the island of Hispaniola, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic.
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC), based in Miami, announced yesterday that hurricane winds had already reached speeds of 225 kilometers an hour and that the situation would get worse over the next few hours.
The airports in Kingston and Montego Bay are closed at the moment. Seven areas are subject to mandatory evacuation orders, one of which is located just a couple of kilometers from the container terminal.
It is highly likely that carriers will decide not to stop at the port of Kingston and call at other regional hubs. This will increase the risk of potential congestion problems in Panama, Cartagena, Caucedo, and other regional hubs.
Translation by Giles Foster
