Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest Atlantic storms ever recorded, made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday, bringing catastrophic winds, torrential rain, and a massive storm, with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) warning that it could devastate the island nation.

“With storm surge up to 13 feet and rainfall up to 40 inches, there will be catastrophic flash flooding and landslides,” said Anne-Claire Fontan, a tropical cyclone specialist with the WMO.

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“For Jamaica, it will be the storm of the century for sure,” she told reporters in Geneva.

Melissa is packing sustained winds of 185 miles per hour (295 kilometres per hour), making it a Category 5 hurricane. According to the WMO, it is the strongest storm to hit Jamaica in more than a hundred years.

The Internatio

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