‘This Is Not the Time to Be Brave’: Hurricane Melissa Strikes Jamaica With Catastrophic Strength

The most powerful storm to ever hit Jamaica has torn across the island on Tuesday, bringing catastrophic winds, floodwaters, and a storm surge that have caused widespread power outages and as-yet-untold destruction.

Hurricane Melissa intensified to a Category 5 storm on Monday and continued to strengthen as it moved closer to Jamaica, where it was forecast to cause life-threatening flash flooding, landslides, and devastating damage to infrastructure. It arrived on the island’s southwestern coast around noon local time Tuesday.

The storm is the strongest to hit the island since record-keeping began, with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph upon landfall, though they have since weakened to 145 mph. “This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation!” the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami warned as the storm reached land, instructing people in the hurricane’s path not to leave shelter.

Read more: Why Are We Seeing More Category 5 Hurricanes?

Desmond McKenzie, Jamaica’s minister of local government, said during a news conference in the early evening that he had "nothing official" on reported deaths yet and it was too early to assess the damage, but "the entire Jamaica has felt the brunt of Melissa.”

He described the southwestern parish of St. Elizabeth as being "underwater" and said roads were blocked, trees were down, and excessive flooding was occurring in almost every parish in the country. At least three major hospitals have been damaged in the storm; at Black River Hospital in St. Elizabeth, he said, 75 patients had to be evacuated after Melissa knocked out power. McKenzie said he knew of three families who were "marooned," with floodwaters trapping them in their homes in Black River in western Jamaica and the hurricane keeping crews from coming to their rescue.

“We are hoping and praying that the situation will ease so that some attempt can be made to get to those persons,” he said.

As the hurricane began to pull away from Jamaica Tuesday evening, it had been downgraded to a Category 4 storm, but meteorologists warned that conditions were still very dangerous.

Some 165,000 people in Jamaica were at risk from the hurricane, according to estimates by the Red Cross. The NHC has warned of “total structural failure” for buildings in Melissa’s direct path. Roughly 530,000 people were without power Tuesday evening, officials said, as Jamaica Public Service Company, the sole distributor of electricity in the country, has experienced complications from the storm.

Three people died in the country as they were preparing for Melissa’s arrival, according to Minister of Health and Wellness Christopher Tufton. Another 13 people were injured.

Jamaican officials issued dire warnings about the damage the hurricane would do. “Jamaica, this is not the time to be brave,” McKenzie told the nation in an address earlier Tuesday.

"Don't bet against Melissa—it is a bet we can't win."

The previous day, McKenzie urged Jamaicans to "take this seriously," warning, "Many of these communities will not survive this flooding.”

"There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5," Prime Minister Andrew Holness said. "The question now is the speed of recovery. That's the challenge."

The center of the hurricane, which made landfall in the country's southwest near New Hope, was moving back into the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday evening, according to the NHC. Roving teams are responding to calls for help.

Seven communities were placed under emergency evacuation orders starting on Sunday night. More than 800 shelters have been opened across Jamaica, although only 382 were in use as of Tuesday afternoon. About 15,000 people were housed in the shelters that evening, according to officials.

Local authorities confirmed Tuesday that 25,000 tourists are on the island. 

Holness, the prime minister, urged Jamaicans to cooperate with evacuation orders to save lives. “You have been warned,” he said on Monday, adding, "I have been on my knees in prayer."

Read more: What Do Hurricane Categories Actually Mean?

Fishermen along the coast of the island began to gather their boats and secure their goods on Sunday night, according to the Jamaica Observer. Dennis Gordon, a vendor at the Ocho Rios Craft Market, told the local media outlet he was bracing for the impact, pointing to the 1988 catastrophic Category 4 Hurricane Gilbert. “We [will] take a good while to come back on our feet,” he said. “We go through Gilbert and it was very, very, bad; out of food, out of water, out of light. I can only hope it don’t reach back to this because it’s coming serious.”

Category 5 storms—the highest level a hurricane can reach on the Saffir-Simpson scale and strong enough to cause “uninhabitable conditions”—often lead to roof failure, the collapse of walls, and fallen poles and trees.

Hurricane-force winds can be felt 30 miles from the storm’s center, while tropical-storm force winds can be felt 195 miles away.

Read more: How Are Hurricanes Named? Here’s What You Need to Know

The Jamaican government launched a Hurricane Melissa relief website on Tuesday to assist those in need. The United Nations, Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, along with the U.S. and European Union, have made calls of support.  

International food organizations have been preparing for the storm’s destruction. The International Organization for Migration indicated they are coordinating the distribution of food and other items, which are expected to arrive in Jamaica by Thursday. The Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston could start allowing emergency relief flights starting that same day, officials said Tuesday.  

Anywhere from 12 to 24 inches of rainfall are forecast to pour on the Caribbean island, according to the NHC’s most recent update on Tuesday evening. The NHC added that some isolated areas over mountainous terrain could see nearly 30 inches of rainfall. The center said that storm surge flooding on the southern coast of the island should subside by Tuesday evening, but that the northwest coast could experience a storm surge of 2 to 4 feet above ground level. 

Melissa is expected to reach Cuba by Tuesday evening or early Wednesday morning “as an extremely dangerous major hurricane,” before heading to the Southeast Bahamas. Anywhere from 10 to 20 inches of rainfall are forecast to pour on eastern Cuba through Wednesday, reaching as high as 25 inches over mountainous terrain. “This will cause life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flash flooding with numerous landslides,” the NHC said in its latest update. About 5 to 10 inches of rainfall are expected in the Southeast Bahamas through Wednesday, which the NHC warned will lead to flash flooding.

Officials indicated they would evacuate more than 600,000 people due to Melissa. By Tuesday evening, they said more than 280,000 people had already been evacuated to evacuation centers or were staying with relatives or neighbors.

Haiti and the Dominican Republic will also face life-threatening flash flooding and landslides. Three people in Haiti have been killed as a result of the storm, which wiped out nearly 40 acres of maize. One person in the Dominican Republic has also passed. Tropical storm conditions in the two countries will persist through Wednesday.

Melissa marks the third Category 5 storm of the 2025 hurricane season.