Hurricane Melissa strengthens again as it turns toward Cuba – DW – 10/29/2025

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Hurricane Melissa has re-strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane as it picked up speed over the Caribbean Sea and approached eastern Cuba.

The storm took several hours to cross Jamaica. This land passage reduced its winds, dropping it to Category 3 – down from the maximum Category 5 – before it rose back to Category 4.

Meanwhile, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the island a “disaster area”, and officials warned residents to shelter in place due to the continued threat of flooding and landslides, as dangerous weather persists even after the worst of the storm has passed.

Hurricane Melissa has made landfall in Jamaica and has been downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane.

With winds of up to 295 kilometers per hour, it is the most powerful hurricane ever to directly strike the Caribbean country of 2.8 million people.

US weather officials said the center of Hurricane Melissa moved away from Jamaica and towards Cuba on Tuesday afternoon.

“Life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds are expected to begin late today across eastern Cuba,” the National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory.

Melissa is forecast to hit the communist-run island early Wednesday.

According to the US National Hurricane Center, Melissa is losing some strength, but it remains an “extremely dangerous” hurricane as it moves toward northwestern Jamaica.

As of 4:00 p.m. ET (20:00 UTC), Melissa is a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 150 mph (240 km/h).

Jamaican health officials have warned residents to be alert for crocodiles that may have been displaced by Hurricane Melissa.

“Rising water levels in rivers, streams and swamps could lead to crocodiles coming into residential areas,” the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) posted on Instagram.

“Residents living near these areas are advised to remain vigilant and avoid flood waters,” it said.

Here are some of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record:

Hurricane Allen (1980)

The most powerful Atlantic hurricane ever recorded in terms of wind speed, Hurricane Allen killed more than 200 people in Haiti before moving toward Texas in 1980. Its sustained winds reached 190 mph (305 km/h) but weakened before landfall.

Hurricane Melissa (2025)

Making landfall in Jamaica with winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), Melissa set the record for the fastest speed of an Atlantic hurricane during landfall.

Hurricane Dorian (2019)

Dorian devastated the Bahamas as the most powerful hurricane ever to strike the country, with sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h).

Hurricane Wilma (2005)

Wilma rapidly intensified into a Category 5 hurricane and reached sustained winds estimated around 185 mph (295 km/h). It then hit Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula before hitting South Florida.

Hurricane Gilbert (1988)

Gilbert reached sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h) and created the then-record lowest pressure in the Atlantic, leaving a trail of destruction in Jamaica and Mexico.

About 6,000 people in Jamaica were sheltering in 382 emergency centers as Hurricane Melissa struck the island on Tuesday, according to officials.

Despite repeated evacuation warnings, Desmond McKenzie, vice-chairman of the Disaster Risk Management Council of Jamaica, expressed concern that few residents in high-risk areas such as St. Elizabeth Parish in the south were using shelters.

Officials estimate that more than 50,000 people may have to temporarily leave their homes due to the storm’s devastation.

The Government of Jamaica has launched a website named support jamaica Providing latest information to residents.

After making landfall in Jamaica, Melissa is expected to remain a powerful hurricane as it crosses eastern Cuba and strikes the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos by Wednesday.

In Cuba, officials said about 500,000 people had been evacuated from areas hit by winds and flooding.

Meanwhile, Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis has issued an evacuation for people in the eastern and southern parts of the archipelago.

Despite government orders to evacuate flood-prone areas, Colin Bogle, a Mercy Corps adviser based near the capital Kingston, said most families were sheltering in place.

“Many people have never experienced anything like this before and the uncertainty is terrifying,” he said. “There is intense fear of losing homes and livelihoods, injury and displacement.”

Experts have predicted that the damage caused by Melissa could exceed that of Hurricane Katrina.

Before the landfall, more than 240,000 people were already without power, and about one-quarter of the telecommunications system was offline, according to Transport and Energy Minister Daryl Vaz.

Vaz said crews would clean and test the island’s two major international airports on Wednesday, which are close to sea level, to allow emergency relief flights to arrive as soon as Thursday.

Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica on Tuesday – the most powerful hurricane to hit the Caribbean island since records were kept 174 years ago.

Damaging winds, torrential flooding, and storm surge were already devastating Jamaica before the storm.

“The safety and security of our visitors is paramount,” Jamaica’s Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said in a statement posted on Twitter by Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

It said there are about 25,000 visitors to the island. Those who need to extend their stay are offered “crisis rates”, and shelter options are also available.

Jamaica’s two main international airports, Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay and Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, are closed, but will reopen “as soon as conditions permit”.

Hurricane Melissa, now a Category 5 superstorm, is threatening to cause catastrophic damage across the Caribbean region. Dr. Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London, says such powerful storms are becoming more intense and frequent due to rising temperatures.

As Hurricane Melissa approached Jamaica’s southern coast on Tuesday, local officials and aid agencies said there was nothing more they could do to prepare for landfall and were focusing their responses on what would become the Category 5 storm.

The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it would send solar lamps, blankets, indoor tents, generators and other items from its logistics hub in Barbados as soon as Melissa crossed Jamaica.

“Many people are likely to be displaced from their homes [will be] “There is an urgent need for shelter and relief,” said Natasha Greaves of IOM Jamaica.

Meanwhile, the non-profit organization Direct Relief said it had enough medical equipment to treat 3,000 people for a month in nearby Panama and was ready to deploy to Jamaica.

It will also send a shipment of 100 field aid packs from its warehouse in California as soon as Jamaica’s main international airport reopens.