KINGSTON, Jamaica, Oct 28, CMC – The eye of the extremely dangerous category 5 Hurricane Melissa is approaching western Jamaica on Tuesday with maximum sustained winds of 175 miles per hour (mph).
The Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHCC), said that the storm, which is about 55 miles, south, south east of Jamaica, will bring catastrophic winds, flash flooding and storm surge .
It said Melissa is moving toward the north-northeast near seven mph and a turn towards the northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected later today, followed by a faster northeastward motion on Wednesday and Thursday.
“On the forecast track, the core of Melissa is expected to make landfall on Jamaica during the next several hours, move across southeastern Cuba Wednesday morning, and move across the southeastern or central Bahamas later on Wednesday.”
The NHC said that little change in strength is expected before Melissa makes landfall on Jamaica.
“Melissa is expected to reach Jamaica and southeastern Cuba as an extremely dangerous major hurricane, and it will still be at hurricane strength when it moves across the southeastern Bahamas.”
Tropical storm conditions are occurring in Jamaica, and catastrophic hurricane-force winds are expected to begin during the next few hours. Melissa is expected to bring rainfall of 15 to 30 inches to portions of Jamaica.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness said Jamaica has been receiving pledges of support for hurricane preparation and recovery from its regional and international partners.
“We have received calls of support from our partners – the United Nations, United States, the British, the French, the European Union, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).
“All the Caricom countries have reached out to pledge support in one way, shape or form and I want to thank all of them for being so willing to support our recovery efforts and our preparation efforts as well,” he said.
Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton has confirmed that three people have died and 13 others have been injured in hurricane preparations.
He said the deaths occurred while the individuals were preparing for the category 5 storm that is showing signs of fluctuations in intensity before making landfall.
Meanwhile, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) says it is closely monitoring the hurricane that is already affecting Jamaica, and expected to affect Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas in the next few days.
PAHO said that as part of its readiness measures, it has prepositioned emergency medical kits and supplies in Haiti. These include interagency emergency health kits, trauma kits, and cyclone response kits stored at the Central Medical Warehouse (PROMESS) in Tabarre, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, for rapid deployment as needed.
Additional stocks of essential medicines, medical and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) supplies, and laboratory materials are maintained at the PAHO Regional Strategic Reserve in Panama.
PAHO’s multidisciplinary regional response team are ready for deployment to assist with health damage and needs assessments, coordination, emergency care, re-establishing essential health services, and the prevent and control of outbreaks, among others.
In Jamaica, authorities have activated the national Emergency Operations Centre to coordinate the response, including hospitals and health centers.
CMC/ag/ir/2025