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.
Melissa, now a Category 2 hurricane, has passed the Bahamas and is moving northeast over open waters.
Melissa will gain speed before passing west of Bermuda on Thursday night as a Category 1 or 2 hurricane.
Hurricane-force winds are possible, prompting a hurricane warning for Bermuda. But only 1 inch of rain is expected.
Melissa won’t make any other landfalls.
On Friday night, Melissa’s remnants could bring wind and rain to Newfoundland, Canada.
Oct 30, 2025, 5:16 AM EDT
Cuban president says no hurricane fatalities recorded so far
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel told a meeting of the country's National Defense Council on Wednesday that no fatalities related to Hurricane Melissa had so far been recorded on the island.
Boys walk in El Cobre, Cuba, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, on Oct. 29, 2025.
Ramon Espinosa/AP
"We are alive, our triumph is life itself," Diaz-Canel told the council, as quoted in a readout published by the president's office.
"That the population of the eastern provinces has withstood, without loss of life so far, the brutal onslaught of the monstrous hurricane is no miracle," he said. "The hardest task -- recovery -- is about to begin."
Oct 30, 2025, 4:59 AM EDT
Jamaica PM shares videos of hurricane devastation
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness posted videos to X on Wednesday showing the devastation wrought to western parts of the island by the passage of Hurricane Melissa.
In the St. James area in the northwest of Jamaica, Holness said, residents "suffered significant damage including severe flooding."
Oct 29, 2025, 7:38 PM EDT
US deploying dozens of relief workers to hard-hit Caribbean
The State Department is deploying several dozen disaster relief workers, including urban search and rescue teams, to Caribbean countries hard-hit by Hurricane Melissa, officials said Wednesday.
The teams are expected to arrive in Jamaica, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic and Haiti within the next 24 hours, senior officials with the State Department said. They include dozens of personnel from Washington and regional hubs in Miami and Costa Rica.
Residents walk through Lacovia Tombstone, Jamaica, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, Oct. 29, 2025.
Matias Delacroix/AP
The State Department has also asked the U.S. military to assist with the disaster relief efforts, a U.S. official said. The mission would likely include airlifts of food, water and other supplies to remote areas of Jamaica, the official said.
The military's Honduras-based Joint Task Force-Bravo is on standby to help, per another U.S. official. FEMA will also have a role in the response management team, the official said.
