At least 20 die for Haiti as Jamaican minister warn say Hurricane Melissa recovery 'no go dey easy'

At least 20 pipo don die for Haiti inside flooding wey Hurricane Melissa cause.

Di hurricane bin make landfall on Tuesday as category five storm for Jamaica, wia pipo remain stuck on roofs and witout power.

Just overnight, three quarters of Jamaica no get light so dem neva even start to count who injure or maybe die.

Many parts of Jamaica western side dey under water, and homes dey destroyed by strong winds afta di hurricane tear across di island wit catastrophic force.

One local official describe di kasala say e resemble "apocalypse feem".

Prime Minister Andrew Holness declare di island as disaster area for late Tuesday and warn of "devasting impacts" and "significant damage" wey fit happun to hospitals, homes and businesses.

Dem neva confam any deaths, Di Montego Bay mayor Richard Vernon tell di BBC say im first work go be "to check weda evribodi dey alive".

Mayor Vernon tok say Montego city dey divided by flood waters as e tell BBC Breakfast say, "once di wind come down, we start to get penti rain wey cause serious floods for di city. One side of di city now dey separated from di oda side sake of di flood water wey don cover di road".

Di majority of hospitals continue to dey supplied wit power, Vaz tok, except dose wey dey for Manchester and St Elizabeth, but impacted hospitals for dose areas dey operate on generator power.

"Plan no dey at dis point to to shut down di grid," e add.

E urge pipo to stay safe and remain cautious. Vaz say for Digicel, wey be mobile provider, "26% of mobile networks dey offline, sake of di widespread loss of power".

Three pipo bin die as dem dey prepare for di storm for Jamaica, di kontri minister of health tok.

"Over di past few days, in preparation for di storm, we don get three deaths - three deaths wey dey linked to cutting down of trees, and in one instance electrocution becos of, or due to, di cutting down of a tree," Chris Tufton tok.

For one case, one health worker die wen one tree fall ontop am for St Elizabeth, according to local media. Dem use aircraft take am to hospital but e die sake of injuries, di Jamaica Observer report.

"Nearly 15" injuries don also dey linked to preparations for di storm for Jamaica, Tufton tok, and add say e mostly involve pipo wey fall from falling from rooftops and trees.

"We urge di public to exercise extreme caution: activities such as climbing roofs, securing sandbags, or cutting trees fit seem manageable, but even minor mistakes during hurricane conditions fit result in serious injury or death," Jamaica Ministry of Health tok.

Di storm don also chop blame for di deaths of four pipo for Haiti and di Dominican Republic.

Wetin be Hurricane Melissa?

Hurricane na type of storm wey get plenty-plenty rain plus strong wind, and sometimes sef thunder go follow join.

Meteorologists wey dey research weather mata tink say if dem give hurricane name, pipo go fit remember am well-well and e go help pipo wen dem dey tok about am.

Dis name wey dem dey give hurricane na based on list wey dem don arrange bifor each hurricane season start. US National Hurricane Centre start dis one since 1950.

Normally, na di World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) dey arrange all di name wey dem dey give hurricane.

Bifor-Bifor, na only woman name dem dey use till 1979 wen dem kon add man name.

Wen storm dey first start for di year, dem go give am name wey dey start with A and e go continue like dat.

Melissa na di 13th hurricane for dis year Atlantic season, wey go typically end for November.

Hurricane Melissa get winds of up to 120 mph (195 km/h).

Na category five hurricane wey be di strongest type, wit winds of at least 157mph.

How Hurricane Melissa compare wit oda storms?

Hurricane Melissa wey now be category five system na di strongest on Earth so far dis year.

For di Atlantic, e dey rank as one of di strongest storms dis century.

For Jamaicans, e dey scary wen you compare am to oda storms wey hit.

Di last direct hit na Gilbert for 1988 and na category three. E scata thousands of homes and kill 49 pipo. Dean for 2007 and Beryl for 2024 come close but e no match wetin Melissa power be.

Worldwide, Melissa dey ranked as part of di most powerful cyclones wey dem don observe. E come just behind Hurricane Patricia for 2015 for Mexico and di record holding Typhoon Tip from 1979.

Earlier today, di storm bin get air pressure for di middle of 901 millibars (mb) and e dey for di back of Hurricane Katrina wey reach 902mb.

Katrina wey sama New Orleans for 2005 kill 1,392 pipo and wetin e spoil reach $125bn (£94bn).

Melissa dey show imsef by di speed wey e grow. Di storm increase from tropical system to category five hurricane in just one day. Di fuel na di warm waters for di Caribbean wey dey like two to three degrees warmer dan e normally be.

Wetin residents fit do

Authorities warn say Hurricane Melissa go lead to power cuts and damage to infrastructure sake of say Melissa go bring up to 30 inches (76cm) of rain and sea level as high as 13ft (4m) above ground.

Dem say make residents begin seek shelter, secure dia homes wit sandbags and wooden boards, and to stock up essentials for dia use.

Hurricane Melissa also dey expected to bring similar effects by di middle of next week for Haiti including di capital, Port au Prince, di Dominican Republic and eastern Cuba.

Oda hurricanes wey don happun bifor

Oda hurricanes wey don happun bifor na:

Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Don, Emily, Franklin, Gert, Harvey, Irma, Jose, Katia, Lee, Maria, Nate, Ophelia, Philippe, Rina, Sean, Tammy, Vince, Whitney