Three people were killed in Haiti on Oct. 24 as rains from the outer bands of Hurricane Melissa caused a landslide in Port-au-Prince. In the Dominican Republic, the storm damaged 200 homes and knocked out water supply systems for millions of customers last week.
Since then, Melissa has undergone “extreme rapid intensification,” strengthening from a tropical storm on Oct. 24 to a Category 4 hurricane by Oct. 26.
This slow-moving system is expected to cause a 13-foot storm surge in Kingston, and forecasters predict at least 30-40 inches of rain overall in Jamaica before the storm weakens as it moves north in the Caribbean. Melissa will make landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday, Oct. 28, as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, the most powerful hurricane on record to hit the island.
Image: Hurricane Melissa on Sunday night, Oct. 26, 2025. (Photo credit: NOAA/CIRA)
