Overview
- Melissa strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds near 220 km/h while creeping just south of Jamaica, with forecasts placing its center very near or over the island early next week.
- The National Hurricane Center warns of catastrophic flash flooding and landslides in Jamaica, southern Haiti and the Dominican Republic, with rain totals projected to reach 200–635 mm broadly and locally up to about 895 mm on Haiti’s Tiburon peninsula.
- At least four deaths have been reported across the region—three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic—where flooding damaged homes and disrupted water systems for more than a half‑million people.
- Jamaica activated more than 650 shelters, shifted public hospitals into emergency mode and began airport closures as Prime Minister Andrew Holness urged residents to complete preparations.
- Forecast guidance indicates a turn toward eastern Cuba and then the Bahamas after Jamaica, with a direct U.S. mainland impact unlikely though dangerous surf and rip currents are expected along the East Coast.