00:00A monster storm unlike anything Jamaica has seen is bearing down, and it's only just beginning.
00:05Hurricane Melissa exploded into life deep in the Caribbean,
00:09and by October 28th had become a fearsome Category 5 hurricane.
00:13It made landfall near New Hope in Jamaica's Westmoreland Parish,
00:17packing sustained winds of up to 295 kmh, 185 mpio,
00:22and a minimum pressure of 892 hpa, tying records in the Atlantic Basin.
00:28The storm carved a path of destruction.
00:30Massive flooding, landslides, roofs ripped off, and entire communities submerged.
00:36In places like St. Elizabeth Parish, homes were underwater,
00:40power to over half a million customers was knocked out,
00:43and rescue crews struggled through hazardous conditions.
00:46Authorities say no infrastructure in the region was truly built for a storm of this magnitude.
00:52The warnings were stark.
00:54Many of these communities will not survive this flooding.
00:56Hurricane Melissa isn't just a local disaster.
01:00It underlines how a warming planet is fueling storms that intensify faster,
01:04hit harder, and leave deeper scars.
01:07For Jamaica, tourism, agriculture, infrastructure,
01:10all are now facing the long road to recovery.
01:13This was not simply a bad storm.
01:15It was a reminder that when nature turns up the volume,
01:18we have to listen and rebuild smarter.
01:20It was a reminder that when nature turns into a storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm of this storm
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