Update: October 27, 2025, at 8:05 a.m. ET
On Monday, Hurricane Melissa strengthened into a Category 5
storm that was heading toward Jamaica.
According to the National
Hurricane Center (NHC), islands on Melissa’s path through the Caribbean Sea
will be hit with torrential rainfall, with Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican
Republic receiving as much as 15-30 inches of rain.
CATEGORY 5 MONSTER!
160 MPH #Hurricane Melissa
Destructive wind/storm surge & catastrophic flooding will spread across Jamaica today/tonight followed by eastern Cuba. Hurricane Watches are up for central/southeastern Bahamas & Turks & Caicos.@foxweather is live from Kingston. pic.twitter.com/h036Yb7tCq— Mike Seidel (@mikeseidel) October 27, 2025
Local officials are warning that the massive influx of rain
and wind could result in deadly flash flooding and landslides. Between Midday
Monday and midday Tuesday is expected to be the most destructive, with the
hurricane moving past the islands by Wednesday morning.
Current projections have the storm staying out at sea as it
moves along the East Coast of the United States later this week, but coastal
areas will still feel the impact of the high winds and heavy rain associated
with the storm.
10/27 5am EDT: #Melissa has strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane with 160 mph winds and a 917 mb central pressure, confirmed by the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters. Conditions in #Jamaica will rapidly deteriorate later today and tonight. Here are the key messages:
See… pic.twitter.com/pMRRQdyOqU
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) October 27, 2025
As cruise lines prepare to make changes to avoid sailing
through the impacted area, all airports in Jamaica were closed on Sunday ahead
of the hurricane’s landfall, according to the island’s transportation minister.
Hurricane Melissa
has rapidly intensified into a powerful Category 4 storm, packing winds of 140
miles per hour, bringing torrential rain and potentially catastrophic flooding to
parts of the northern Caribbean.
According to AP
News, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned Sunday that the
system could even strengthen to a Category 5 before reaching
Jamaica’s southern coast late Monday or early Tuesday.
Forecasters are
sounding the alarm for residents and travelers in the region, particularly in Jamaica,
where the storm’s slow pace and heavy rainfall could spell disaster.
“Conditions (in Jamaica) are going to go down rapidly today,” said Jamie Rhome,
deputy director of the NHC. “Be ready to ride this out for several days.”
A Slow but
Destructive Storm
As of Sunday
morning, Melissa was located roughly 110 miles south-southeast of the capital
city of Kingston and moving west at a sluggish 3 mph. While the storm’s sluggish
speed might sound like good news, meteorologists say the slow movement actually
increases the danger, giving the system more time to dump devastating rain over
the same areas.
Forecasters
expect Jamaica and southern Hispaniola — the island that encompasses both Haiti
and the Dominican
Republic — to receive up to 30 inches of rain, with some spots potentially even
seeing a staggering 40 inches. The NHC warned that the deluge will likely cause
widespread infrastructural damage, power and communication blackouts, and the
potential isolation of entire communities in Jamaica.
Airports
Close, Shelters Open
The nation’s
largest airport, Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, shut
down late Saturday night, followed by Montego Bay’s Sangster International
Airport, which closed at midday Sunday.
Jamaica’s national
emergency agency, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management
(ODPEM), has already activated its Level 3 protocol and all National Response
Team members remain at the ready.
“There is nowhere
that will escape the wrath of this hurricane,” cautioned Richard Thompson, ODPEM’S
acting director general.
Evan Thompson,
principal director of the Meteorological Service of Jamaica, emphasized the
storm’s dangerous persistence. “With the slow movement of this system, it
doesn’t allow you to recover. It’s going to sit there, pouring water while it’s
barely moving and that is a significant challenge that we have to be aware of,”
he said.
More than 650
shelters have been opened across Jamaica, and the government says warehouses
are stocked with emergency supplies and thousands of food packages ready for
distribution.
Fatalities
Reported, More Impacts Expected
Melissa’s path
has already turned deadly. Officials say at least three people have been killed
in Haiti and another in the Dominican Republic, with one person still missing.
The storm is
forecast to move near or over Cuba by late Tuesday, dropping up to 12 inches of
rain before continuing north toward The Bahamas
later in the week.
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