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| Image from the Weather Channel showing extreme flooding in Jamaica from Hurricane Melissa. |
That's better than the 185 mph that parts of Jamaica endured at landfall, but the wind and the incredible flooding just add to the pile of damages in the Caribbean from this incredible storm.
The wind and rain is finally calming down in Jamaica, so they can start assessing where they stand after their "Storm of the Century."
Calling it that is actually a bit of an understatement. Hurricane Melissa was one of only six storms known in the Atlantic with winds of at least 185 mph. Only three known Atlantic storms - a 1935 hurricane in Florida, Hurricane Dorian in 2019 and Melissa had winds that strong at landfall.
The National Hurricane Center will eventually review data from Hurricane Melissa to determine whether this stat is accurate.
Some data suggests that Melissa's winds might have been even stronger, beating the all time record for high winds, which was set in 1980 during Hurricane Allen in the Gulf of Mexico. Those winds were 190 mph.
As of this morning, we have no idea what the Jamaican death toll is. We only have reports from when the storm was ramping up - three dead. We don't know what happened when the core of the storm buzz sawed through.
I'm hoping Jamaica got really lucky in that respect. I imagine we'll learn more later today.
The western half of Jamaica is especially devastated from the tornado-like winds and massive amounts of water that fell from the sky. Eastern Jamaica seems to be doing better. Video from the capitol, Kingston, shows that city to be largely intact.
Given that so much of western Jamaica is in ruins, the island nation will need lots of help. Their government has set up a web site that allows people to report problems, the public to donate, and prioritize needs.
Even the United States, where President Donald Trump does not like to help others, might step in. Trump said, "On a humanitarian basis, we have to. So we're watching it closely and we're prepared to move."
I'm sure there will be more details to come on Jamaican relief efforts. But be forewarned: There will also be a LOT of scammers pretending to be trying to help Jamaica. They'll just steal money that was donated.
Do some research before donating, and give to reputable charities.
Melissa's life is fortunately coming to an end soon. It's got one more big stop, in the southeast Bahamas and Turks and Caicos. It'll swipe past Bermuda Friday, and then it Melissa will die over the North Atlantic.
Climate change is being accurate blamed for helping fuel Melissa. But it's more complicated than just climate change.
True, the Caribbean water that Melissa passed over was the warmest on record, in part due to climate change.
But also, unlike most years, there were no hurricanes in the Caribbean this year until Melissa. Hurricanes tend to bring cool water up from the depths. So a late season hurricane in the Caribbean would have normally encountered somewhat cooler water than Melissa did.
If that were the case, Melissa wouldn't have gotten so strong.
Melissa also moved forward very slowly, almost stalling at times, giving it more time to strengthen.
More often that not, a slow moving storm like Melissa will eventually choke itself off from the warm water feeding it. A hurricane would draw cooler water to the surface, diminishing its potential power.
This time, the Caribbean waters were unusually hot to a great depth beneath the surface. Melissa pulled water up from the deep. But that water was warm, too, so the storm kept on strengthening.
Overall, the research group Climate Central said the conditions that turned Hurricane Melissa into such a monster were made up to 700 times more likely due to human caused climate change.
One tiny bit of good news: As we approach the end of hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center does not see any potential new tropical storms or hurricanes for at least the next week, probably more. Maybe there won't even be any more, we hope.
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