The Caribbean storm — among the most powerful in history, with 185 mph winds — is expected to bring flash-flooding and landslides as it slowly moves across the island and heads north toward Cuba.

The most powerful storm to hit the region since 1988 could inundate some areas of eastern Jamaica with up to 40 inches of rain. The arrival of its core has been delayed by stalling.

Jamaica faces massive infrastructure damage from Melissa — hospitals, roads and homes hit hard; emergency crews and the Jamaica Defense Force are delivering supplies.

Melissa sets its sights on Bermuda after its historic Category 5 landfall in Jamaica and major hurricane lashing in eastern Cuba. Here's the very latest forecast and recap, so far.

With Hurricane Melissa's rapid intensification, the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season has produced three Category 5 hurricanes, which hasn't happened in a single season for 20 years. Melissa continues to make history as the third-strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin.

Melissa is the fifth most intense Atlantic basin hurricane on record by pressure and the strongest to make landfall since Hurricane Dorian in 2019, according to hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry.

Article last updated: Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, 1 a.m. ET

Texas newlyweds Kasydee and Hunter Bishop are trapped near Montego Bay, Jamaica, as Hurricane Melissa approaches as a Category 5 storm with 175 mph winds.

When Rebecca Morris and her family learned that Hurricane Melissa was barreling toward Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, panic set in immediately. Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica on Tuesday, Oct. 28, as a catastrophic Category 5 storm.

Article last updated: Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, 4 p.m. ET