Overview
- Melissa struck Jamaica at Category 5 strength with sustained winds near 295–300 km/h, prompting a nationwide disaster declaration as the island’s west reported severe damage, power and communications outages, and hospitals hit.
- Haiti recorded at least 20 deaths from flooding, with additional fatalities in Panama and the Dominican Republic bringing the regional toll to around 30 as searches for the missing continue.
- Crossing eastern Cuba as a Category 3, the storm caused “considerable” damage, with about 735,000 people evacuated and millions facing power and communications cuts, though authorities have not confirmed any deaths.
- The system has weakened toward Category 2 and is tracking toward the Bahamas with National Hurricane Center warnings in place, with Bermuda likely next in its path.
- International assistance is mobilizing, including U.S. response teams and a £2.5 million UK aid pledge, and a new study finds human-caused warming made an event like Melissa roughly four times more likely and increased wind speeds by about 19 km/h.