Franklin Graham Calls For Prayer As ‘Monstrous’ Hurricane Melissa Devastates Jamaica

By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

KINGSTON/HAVANA (Worthy News) – American evangelist Franklin Graham has urged Christians to “pray for the people of Jamaica” after the Caribbean island nation was hit by “a monstrous storm—Hurricane Melissa” with fatalities already being reported.

Graham, who heads Christian charity Samaritan’s Purse, added that his organization has “been loading cargo planes with shelter tarp, solar lights, medical supplies, water filtration systems, and more to get to the island as soon as an airport is accessible.”

He noted that Samaritan’s Purse “works with more than 250 church partners there, and they have asked for prayer. They’ve been through storms before, but this one was the strongest to ever hit the island.”

Melissa roared ashore near Jamaica’s southwestern town of New Hope, packing sustained winds of up to 185 miles per hour (295 kilometers per hour), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center — well above a Category 5 storm, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale, officials said.

“I have been on my knees in prayer,” added Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

In southwestern Jamaica, the parish of St. Elizabeth was left “underwater,” an official said, with more than 500,000 residents without power. “The reports that we have had so far would include damage to hospitals, significant damage to residential property, housing, and commercial property as well, and damage to our road infrastructure,” said Prime Minister Holness.

NUMEROUS DEATHS

With seven deaths already reported across the Caribbean, including at least three in Jamaica, the Kingston authorities did not confirm any official toll overnight.

However, Holness urged the public to take the threat seriously. “You have been warned. It’s now up to you to use that information to make the right decision.”

Similar warnings were made in neighboring Communist-run Cuba, where authorities said some 500,000 people were ordered to move to higher ground.

In the Bahamas, next in Melissa’s path to the northeast, the government ordered evacuations of residents in southern portions of that archipelago, Worthy News monitored.

Farther to the east, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic had faced days of torrential downpours leading to at least four deaths, authorities there said.

Local media reported at least three deaths in Jamaica during storm preparations, and a disaster coordinator suffered a stroke at the onset of the storm and was rushed to the hospital. Late Tuesday, many areas remained cut off.

MASSIVE STORMS

No stranger to hurricanes, Jamaica had never before been known to take a direct hit from a Category 4 or 5 storm, and the government called for foreign aid even as it prepared for Melissa’s arrival.

Meteorologists at the AccuWeather agency said Melissa ranked as the third most intense hurricane observed in the Caribbean after Wilma in 2005 and Gilbert in 1988—the last major storm to make landfall in Jamaica.

As of Wednesday, the storm’s eye had shifted north toward eastern Cuba, bringing torrential rains and winds exceeding 160 miles per hour (257 kilometers per hour), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

The World Meteorological Organization described Hurricane Melissa as “Jamaica’s worst storm in modern history,” warning that catastrophic flooding and landslides could persist for days.

More than 1.5 million people are believed to have been affected in Jamaica, with international aid agencies—including the Red Cross and Samaritan’s Purse—mobilizing relief shipments of food, water, and medical supplies.

The Bahamas remain on high alert as Melissa is expected to pass near or over its southern islands by late Wednesday.

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