‘Catastrophic’ Flooding Expected in Jamaica. Melissa is most powerful storm in island’s history
A man walks along the coastline during the passing of Hurricane Melissa in Kingston, Jamaica, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Hurricane Melissa, which slammed into Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 monster storm, has weakened slightly to a Category 4, but forecasters warn that it remains extremely dangerous.
According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Melissa lost some strength as it churned across Jamaica’s mountainous interior, but the storm continues to unleash damaging winds, catastrophic flash flooding, and deadly landslides. “Damaging winds will continue over portions of Jamaica this evening,” the NHC said in its latest advisory. “Catastrophic flash flooding and landslides are expected across the island tonight, along with widespread infrastructure damage, power and communication outages, and isolated communities.”
The storm has already made history. Melissa is the strongest hurricane ever recorded to strike Jamaica since recordkeeping began 174 years ago, and it ties for the most powerful Atlantic hurricane to ever make landfall, according to the Associated Press.
With sustained winds reaching 185 mph near the community of New Hope, the storm left behind scenes of destruction—fallen trees, landslides, and widespread blackouts—as emergency officials warned that recovery could take time.
“There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5,” said Prime Minister Andrew Holness. “The question now is the speed of recovery. That’s the challenge.”
In Black River, on Jamaica’s western coast, at least three families were trapped in their homes by rising floodwaters, according to Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of the country’s Disaster Risk Management Council. “Roofs were flying off,” he said. “We are hoping and praying that the situation will ease so that we can reach those persons.” McKenzie added that the southwestern parish of St. Elizabeth was particularly hard hit, describing it as “underwater.”
As of Tuesday night, there were no confirmed fatalities, though officials cautioned it was too early to assess the full scope of the damage while the storm continued to batter the island.
Rohan Brown, with Jamaica’s Meteorological Service, warned that as Melissa moves away from the island, its counterclockwise rotation will generate a dangerous storm surge along Jamaica’s northern coast overnight.
The hurricane is now headed toward Cuba, where it is expected to make landfall early Wednesday as a major storm.
Meteorologists described Melissa as an extraordinary system—one that defied several conditions that typically weaken hurricanes. The storm underwent “extreme rapid intensification,” strengthening by nearly 70 mph in just 24 hours, and then astonishingly intensified a second time to reach 175 mph winds.
“It’s been… just a beast of a storm,” said Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University.
President Donald Trump has been monitoring the situation closely, according to officials, and the U.S. is reportedly preparing disaster relief assistance for Jamaica and nearby nations in the storm’s projected path.
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