St. Elizabeth Parish, southwestern Jamaica, is the first to be struck by Category 5 Hurricane Melissa. Winds of 185 mph (295 km/h) are tearing through the area, causing severe flooding and destruction.

 

10AM #Melissa Update: @53rdWRS and @NOAA_HurrHunter Hurricane Hunter aircraft find that Melissa continues to strengthen. Catastrophic winds are moving onshore southern Jamaica. THIS IS THE LAST CHANCE TO PROTECT YOUR LIFE! For more updates visit https://t.co/tW4KeGe9uJ pic.twitter.com/3jr34vkzrZ

— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) October 28, 2025

Hurricane Melissa, intensified to a Category 5 with 185 mph sustained winds and a record-low 892 mb pressure, is making landfall on southern Jamaica, tying it for the third-strongest Atlantic storm by pressure alongside the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane.

Real-time data from NOAA Hurricane Hunters confirms rapid strengthening, with the storm's eye now 25 miles southeast of Negril, Jamaica, driving catastrophic winds onshore and urging immediate life-saving evacuations.

As the first hurricane named Melissa in Atlantic basin history—previously only a tropical storm in prior seasons—this event forecasts unprecedented flash flooding and landslides, exceeding Jamaica's worst historical impacts per NHC models.