Jamaica Cowers as Monster Hurricane Melissa Approaches

Catastrophic and life-threatening floods loom as Category 5 Hurricane Melissa reaches Jamaica.

The storm is the strongest on the globe this year – and among the 20 strongest ever to form over the Atlantic.

‘We are very concerned. The strongest storm on the planet is heading for this tiny dot on the world map,’ business owner Steve Dunn told CNN.

Schools and airports are closed, roofs have been reinforced and shelters are ready. Jamaica’s government has done everything it can to prepare for a storm ‘the likes of which we have never seen,’ Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon told the BBC’s Newshour. October is already the month when most rain falls on the island nation.

‘The ground is already very saturated. Getting so much rain means that we will have flooding – extensive flooding – and landslides in the mountainous areas,’ she says.

Destructive winds of up to 58 metres per second are expected when Melissa moves over Jamaica, according to the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC). In gusts, winds could reach speeds of up to 78 metres per second.

According to Prime Minister Andrew Holness, the western part of the island is expected to be hit hardest.

‘I don’t think there is any infrastructure in that region that can withstand a Category 5 storm,’ he told CNN.

Large areas are covered by mandatory evacuation orders. But not everyone plans to comply with them.

‘I’m not moving. I don’t think I can run from death,’ plumber Roy Brown told AFP news agency in Kingston.