safety steps

𝗝𝗢𝗜𝗡 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧𝗦𝗔𝗣𝗣 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗟! 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗞: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaN7nmQGOj9na4QhBa12

At 800 AM EDT (1200 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Melissa was located by NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft near latitude 16.3 North, longitude 76.4 West.

Melissa is moving toward the west near 5 mph (7 km/h). A slow westward motion is expected today, followed by a turn to the north and northeast on Monday and Tuesday.

On the forecast track, the center of Melissa is expected to move near or over Jamaica through Tuesday, across southeastern Cuba Tuesday night, and across the southeastern Bahamas on Wednesday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 140 mph (220 km/h) with higher gusts. Melissa is a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

Further rapid intensification is expected through tonight, followed by fluctuations in intensity.

Melissa is expected to be a major hurricane when making landfall in Jamaica Monday night or Tuesday morning and southeastern Cuba late Tuesday.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles (35 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles (280 km).

The minimum central pressure estimated by aircraft dropsonde data is 952 mb (28.12 inches).