Jamaica issues hurricane warning amid imminent threat from Matthew

Jamaican fishers on cays and banks should complete all safety necessary precautions and stay in safe harbors as Hurricane Matthew is expected to affect the South American country within the next 24-36 hours, Meteorological Service of Jamaica warned Saturday.

They should remain so until all warning messages have been lifted and wind and sea conditions have returned to normal, the weather monitoring body said.

Dangerously high water combined with exceptionally high waves and winds averaging 118 km per hour or higher are expected to affect the country by Monday, it said.

Hurricane Matthew was ranked a Category 5 hurricane on Friday night, the top of the hurricane classification, making it the strongest since Felix in 2007.

Even though its wind weakened slightly on Saturday, Matthew remains a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained wind speed of near 240 km per hour.

At 7 p.m. local time (0000GMT), the hurricane eye was near latitude 13.5 degrees North, longitude 73.4 degrees West, which is about 620 km southeast of Kingston, Jamaica or 580 km south-southwest of Port au Prince, Haiti, according to the Meteorological Service.

The hurricane barely moved during the past hours, but a slow northwestward motion is expected to begin on Saturday night. With a gradual turn toward the north with an increase in forward speed in the next two days, the hurricane center is forecasted to approach Jamaica and southwestern Haiti on Monday.

In response to the imminent threat from the dangerous tropical cyclone, the Jamaican government said all emergency shelters across the island would operate by Saturday afternoon and they will be equipped with necessary resources.

While touring sections of the island to review the preparation work on Saturday, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness pledged his determination to protect the country from the impact of Matthew.

"The marker for hurricane impact in recent times would be Hurricane Gilbert and I am certain that Jamaica is much better prepared (at this time)," said Holness.

"We are ensuring that all government agencies understand that they have a role in the speedy recovery, which will ensure that our economy does not suffer unnecessarily," he said.

In September 1988, Gilbert unleashed its power in Jamaica as a Category 3 hurricane, claiming more than 40 lives and severely damaging more than 100,000 houses and hundreds of miles of roads and highways. Endi