From the Associated Press: Heavy floodwaters swept across southwestern Jamaica, winds tore roofs off buildings and boulders tumbled into roads Tuesday as Hurricane Melissa came ashore as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, tied for the strongest landfalling Atlantic hurricanes in history.
The storm landed in southwestern Jamaica near New Hope and is expected to exit around St. Ann parish in the north, forecasters said. The storm is expected to slice diagonally across the island, then head for Cuba. It has been blamed for at least seven deaths so far in the Caribbean — three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic.
Landslides, fallen trees and numerous power outages were reported ahead of Melissa’s landfall, with officials in Jamaica cautioning that the cleanup and damage assessment would be slow.
“There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5,” Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said Monday. “The question now is the speed of recovery. That’s the challenge.”
Holness just announced Tuesday afternoon, “A hurricane warning remains in effect for Jamaica as catastrophic Category 5 Hurricane Melissa has made landfall on the island.”
A hurricane warning remains in effect for Jamaica as catastrophic Category 5 Hurricane Melissa has made landfall on the island. pic.twitter.com/7tJw2UxjBw
— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) October 28, 2025
Heartbreaking scenes are being shared on social media, including massive flooding and uprooted trees.
A photo shared by Kari Lake shows the roofs gone from many commercial buildings, and the entire area flooded.
I truly love Jamaica and its people, and it is heartbreaking to see what is happening and what is about to happen with the intense Category 5 Hurricane Melissa. It has been nearly 200 years since a storm this catastrophic struck the island.
The people of Jamaica are truly… pic.twitter.com/CB6aMQNLsj
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) October 28, 2025
A gazebo toppled like a stack of dominos.
Watch a gazebo collapse as conditions worsen in Montego Bay, Jamaica, after Hurricane Melissa made landfall as a Category 5 storm about 36 miles south in New Hope on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/mKrJISV1Kw
— AccuWeather (@accuweather) October 28, 2025
“Weather Watcher” in Portugal wrote, “It’s difficult to explain just how remarkable it is for a hurricane to maintain such a perfect structure, while it simultaneously continues to get stronger and stronger for so many hours. #Melissa is the type of hurricane that will be talked about for many, many years to come. This is the pinnacle of what our current atmosphere is capable of.”
It’s difficult to explain just how remarkable it is for a hurricane to maintain such a perfect structure, while it simultaneously continues to get stronger and stronger for so many hours. #Melissa is the type of hurricane that will be talked about for many, many years to come.… pic.twitter.com/xH5KhLf0cW
— Weather Watcher (@WXWatcher07) October 28, 2025
4 pm EDT – Extremely dangerous #Melissa moving across northwestern Jamaica. This remans an extremely dangerous situation! See below for details, visit https://t.co/tW4KeGe9uJ. Next forecast will be issued by 5 pm EDT. pic.twitter.com/zezHIgaftV
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) October 28, 2025
READ MORE from the Associated Press.
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