HAVING warned on Saturday that Jamaica could face massive storm surges which could devastate coastline communities when Hurricane Melissa makes landfall, principal director of the Meteorological Service of Jamaica Evan Thompson on Sunday urged Jamaicans, particularly those on the south coast, to brace for waves as high as 13 feet.

“Storm surge is expected mainly over the southern side of the island and this will be to the east of the centre of the hurricane as it approaches the south coast and begins to make an impact. We see the greener areas on the map over Clarendon, parts of St Catherine, Kingston, and then western parts of St Thomas. That is really where we are expecting most of the storm surge,” Thompson said at a press conference Sunday afternoon at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) in St Andrew.

This was the latest update from State agencies on Melissa, which has had Jamaica in its cross hairs for more than a week.

“If you take a look at the area just east of Portland Cottage in Clarendon…that is where the highest storm surges are expected to take place. If you are anywhere in this general area, do expect storm surges, which means waves pushed onto the land,” said Thompson.

The veteran meteorologist reiterated that Jamaica will experience intense rainfall, with possibly 20 to 30 inches in eastern and south central parts of the island as Melissa hits.

Thompson pointed out, shortly after midday Sunday, that Melissa made a slight shift to the west but underscored that Jamaicans must still expect a direct hit from the hurricane, which maintained Category 4 strength throughout Sunday.

“There is a slight shift thus far to the west. I am hoping we will see more shifts that will take it off the country, but right now the forecast is that we will be directly impacted by the eye. Landfall will be made between Monday night and Tuesday morning and it will move right across the island right through the day on Tuesday.

“This is tremendous rainfall bound to cause widespread [flooding] across the country. It is something noteworthy. There are flooding potential areas in every parish. If you are in a low-lying area, you need to take note. If you are near a river course or a gully, you need to also take special note and find some alternative locations you can move to should you be threatened by heavy rainfall,” Thompson urged as he argued that preparation for Melissa should have already been completed.

When it comes to quickly restoring potable water to Jamaicans following the passage of Melissa, Minister of Water, Environment, and Climate Change Matthew Samuda told the media briefing that systems are already in place to tackle that.

According to Samuda, where systems are not yet in place, resources will be deployed as soon as conditions allow.

He said the National Water Commission (NWC) has engaged all its emergency protocols and that a pre-review of the performance and ability to restore water post-Hurricane Beryl last year has been done.

Samuda said an NWC core group has been formed to work closely with Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) which will be playing an instrumental role in providing electricity to water pump stations that feed places like hospitals.

“JPS is very clear on all the pumps that are critical for supply at hospital, infirmaries, places of safety, and places of detention so that they can work to restore current to those first. They are also clear on the pumping stations that function to load trucks so that they know that those are priority stations so that we are also able to do emergency water distribution while turbidity settles and while we get our generators dispatched,” Samuda said.

From left: Matthew Samuda, minister of water, environment and climate Change; Daryl Vaz, minister of science, energy, telecommunications, and transport; and Desmond McKenzie, minister of local government and rural development, at the latest briefing on Hurricane Melissa on Sunday.