Category 5 Hurricane Melissa Bears Down on Jamaica With 280 km/h Winds

Overview

• The U.S. National Hurricane Center labels Melissa a Category 5 storm, with sustained winds near 280–282 km/h and a central pressure near 933 hPa measured by Air Force reconnaissance.
• Forecasts call for catastrophic winds, life-threatening storm surge reaching up to roughly 4 meters on Jamaica’s south coast, and torrential rain likely to trigger widespread landslides.
• Jamaica ordered mandatory evacuations, opened roughly 800–900 shelters, closed airports and ports, and moved hospital patients to higher floors as power cuts and downed trees were already reported.
• Authorities and media report at least seven deaths across the Caribbean, including three in Jamaica and three in Haiti, with tallies still being updated.
• The core is expected to cross Jamaica today before reaching eastern Cuba by Wednesday and then the southeastern Bahamas, as Cuba reports evacuations of more than 600,000 people and the IFRC warns up to 1.5 million could be affected in Jamaica.