Port-au-Prince, Haiti — Hurricane Melissa no be joke for Caribbean right now as e don cause serious wahala. Dis storm, wey be one of di strongest wey don touch land for Atlantic in over 150 years, don kill at least 30 people while people still dey try understand di full level of casualties.
As e land for Jamaica on Tuesday, power don waka jujube for most part of di island. Reports show say di storm don take down electricity for more than 77% of di country. E be like say Jamaica just catch one big vomit as di Prime Minister Andrew Holness don declare di country disaster area – figure wey fit make anybody fear. Na truly di storm of di century as di World Meteorological Organization (WMO) don talk am. Dem see as Melissa jump from 70 mph tropical storm on Saturday to 140 mph Category 4 hurricane by Sunday morning. Na wa o!
Di rain start dey pour like water from tap as soon as di storm show face. Residents wey dey for coastal area especially sabi wetin I dey talk as dem don begin see water dey waka inside dem houses, some dey even dey climb di roof just to avoid di floods. In Cuba, everywhere don shake and dem don dey clear debris while di government dey find solution.
In Jamaica, di Mayor of Black River, Richard Solomon, don come out talk say di situation wey dem dey face be just catastrophic. “Katastofik” na mild term for wetin dey happen, as dem don say around 140,000 people don cut off from food and medical help.
As morning break on Wednesday, wahala no go finish as Hurricane Melissa don change style. E don fancy down to Category 3 when e land for Cuba, but di impacts still dey strong as di flood dey cause serious trouble. President Miguel Díaz-Canel of Cuba don capture di feelings of di people wey dey suffer by saying di damage na “significant” and dey urge dem to remain vigilant.
For di Bahamas, dem don evacuate over 735,000 people and authorities don dey on guard as di storm dey continue dey spin like one serious disco ball. By di time e finally land for di Bahamas, some people dey estimate say up to 1,485 residents don evacuate as all flights suspended.
Dis storm na wake up call. E clear say climate change dey make wetin suppose happen once in a while dey happen too frequent. Di Grantham Institute for Imperial College don run dem numbers and tell us say hurricane Melissa fit be just di beginning if we no change wetin we dey do.
International community dey step up as UK don promise £2.5 million to aid recovery in di region, while U.S. don deploy disaster relief workers to help Jamaica, Bahamas, and di rest. Yet, e go take time before everybody fit see road again.
People wey dey inside di affected areas, no lose hope. Di spirit of di Jamaican people dey strong, even as dem dey face di aftermath of dis storm. Recovery wan take time but together, dem go rise back strong, because na wetin dem dey do. And as for di rest of di Caribbean, we dey watch, we dey pray for one another.
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