Hurricane Melissa live updates: No official death toll in Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa tore a path of destruction across Jamaica.

ByJack Moore, David Brennan, Emily Shapiro, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: October 30, 2025, 10:54 PM EDT

Hurricane Melissa tore a path of destruction across Jamaica after the storm made landfall on Tuesday as a Category 5 hurricane, one of the most powerful landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin.

After lashing Jamaica with dangerous winds and flooding rain, Melissa made a second landfall in Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday morning. Melissa then moved through the Bahamas, and next, on Thursday night, the storm will pass Bermuda as a Category 1 or 2 hurricane.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
Oct 28, 2025, 4:26 PM EDT

Melissa now a Category 4 hurricane

Melissa is now a Category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds decreased to 150 mph, but it remains an extremely dangerous storm as it sweeps across western Jamaica.

The center is currently located about 10 miles south of Montego Bay, as the storm is moving to the north-northeast at 8 mph.

A house and fence are damaged by Hurricane Melissa in Kingston, Jamaica, October 28, 2025.
Rudolph Brown/EPA/Shutterstock

Catastrophic winds, flash flooding and storm surge continue to hit parts of the island nation.

Melissa is expected to reemerge off the northern coast of Jamaica over the next couple of hours, then head toward eastern Cuba next.

-ABC News' Dan Peck

Oct 28, 2025, 3:21 PM EDT

Melissa hammering western Jamaica with 160 mph winds

Hurricane Melissa has weakened slightly but remains an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm that’s hammering western Jamaica with 160 mph winds.

Melissa is moving to north-northeast at 8 mph bringing catastrophic winds, flash flooding and storm surge to the island.

Hurricane Melissa has made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane, one of the most powerful hurricane landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin, Oct. 28, 2025.
NOAA

The worst conditions will persist for a couple more hours in Jamaica before Melissa reemerges back over water and heads toward eastern Cuba.

Oct 28, 2025, 2:48 PM EDT

Jamaica's history with powerful hurricanes

Jamaica is no stranger to destructive hurricanes. From Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 to Hurricane Beryl just last year, click here to read about the major storms that struck Jamaica before Melissa.

Oct 28, 2025, 2:42 PM EDT

How to help

The American Red Cross and World Central Kitchen are among the organizations prepared to help Jamaica get back on its feet in the coming weeks and months.

Click here to see which organizations are ready to assist.

A man looks at a fallen tree in St. Catherine, Jamaica, as Hurricane Melissa made landfall, October 28, 2025.
Ricardo Makyn/AFP via Getty Images

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