Hurricane Melissa hits Jamaica with violent winds as authorities warn of ‘catastrophic’ flooding.
Melissa made landfall in south-western Jamaica as a Category 5 storm.
Storm surges of 13 feet (3.9m) above ground level are expected, in addition to large and destructive waves.
According to the US National Hurricane Center, Melissa had maximum sustained winds of about 185 mph (295km/h) and an estimated minimum central pressure of 892 millibars at landfall, making it one of the most powerful storms to ever make landfall in the Atlantic Ocean.
It ranks as one of the strongest storms in the Atlantic this century.
For Jamaicans, the comparisons with past storms are chilling.
Gilbert in 1988, the last direct hit, was a category three. It destroyed thousands of homes and killed 49 people. Dean in 2007 and Beryl in 2024 came close, but neither matched Melissa’s raw power.
Globally, Melissa ranks among the most powerful cyclones ever observed – just behind Mexico’s Hurricane Patricia in 2015 and the record-holding Typhoon Tip of 1979.
Earlier today, the storm had an air pressure in its centre of 901 millibars (mb), just ahead of Hurricane Katrina, which reached 902mb.
Katrina, which hit New Orleans in 2005, killed 1,392 people and caused damage estimated at $125bn (£94bn).
Melissa has set itself apart for how quickly it has grown. The storm intensified from a tropical system to a category five hurricane in just a day, fuelled by exceptionally warm waters in the Caribbean.
