Hurricane Melissa live updates: No official death toll in Jamaica
Hurricane Melissa tore a path of destruction across Jamaica.
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.
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'We're just riding it out'
Michelle Robinson, an attorney with homes and offices in New York and Jamaica, is holed up in an apartment in Kingston as Hurricane Melissa moves in.
“We were OK throughout the night,” she told ABC News Live on Tuesday morning. “Power was going in and out, we had some really strong winds. But so far, we’re hanging in there.”
Robinson said she prepared for the hurricane by stocking up on water, food, flashlights and batteries.
“Because of how the building is designed, we’re not really able to board up our windows, so we’re just hoping for the best,” Robinson said.
“We’re just riding it out,” she added.
Robinson said her biggest concern for her area, which is slightly inland, is flooding.
“Where we are, a little bit of rain can cause flooding," she said. "So I’m more concerned about when the heavier rainfall starts that we’re gonna have severe flooding."
Melissa nearing landfall
Hurricane Melissa is nearing landfall, with the eye wall expected to reach the coast of Jamaica within the next 20 minutes.
Landfall will occur around 11 a.m. or noon near Black River, on the southwestern part of the island.
Landfall expected between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET
Hurricane Melissa is gaining speed, now moving toward Jamaica at 7 mph.
Landfall is expected between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET; the exact time will depend on how much speed the storm gains in the next few hours.
A river has already overtaken a bridge near Spanish Town, a city just west of Kingston, with new video showing debris flowing down the river.
Americans in Jamaica brace for landfall
Houston resident Carmencita Kay Williams Wilson is among the Americans in Jamaica as the hurricane moves in.
“We've cleared out the patio and the chairs, put tape on the window as much as we can,” she said in an update on social media on Monday night. “It's just now starting to drizzle and rain on this part of the island, Pineapple Beach, St James' Parish. So we're holding on in there."
Another visitor to Jamaica, Tampa resident Kate Nguyen, said guests are sleeping on camp beds at her hotel in Montego Bay.
''I got a little sleep, but I was too anxious and worried, not just for myself but for people in the area,” she told ABC News on Tuesday morning.
Maritza Caver-Blake and her husband traveled from Arkansas to Jamaica to celebrate their 10 year anniversary and now they can’t get home to their 4-year-old and 8-year-old children.
“We’ve been praying a lot,” she said. “They were expecting their parents back on Sunday. We don’t want to tell them, ‘Mommy and daddy are stuck in another country.’”
-ABC News’ Kerem Inal