Hurricane Melissa has been declared the “storm of the century” after slamming into Jamaica as one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded. The Category 5 storm made landfall Tuesday afternoon on the island’s southwestern coast with catastrophic 185 mph winds, matching the intensity of the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane — the most powerful Atlantic storm to ever hit land.
The United Nations confirmed the unprecedented severity of the disaster, with World Meteorological Organization specialist Anne-Claire Fontan warning, “It’s a catastrophic situation expected in Jamaica… For Jamaica, it will be the storm of the century, for sure.” The entire island of 2.8 million people has been ravaged by flooding, power outages, and widespread infrastructure failure.
Roofs were torn from homes and businesses, roads turned into raging rivers, and floodwaters swept through major cities. Torrential rain and storm surges of up to 13 feet battered coastal regions, while authorities warned residents to remain indoors and watch for crocodiles displaced from swamps into flooded streets. The government imposed mandatory evacuations in multiple parishes, with up to 25,000 tourists stranded as airports shut down.
Fox Weather meteorologist Greg Diamond said Jamaica’s lack of robust weather stations will delay full damage assessments but confirmed the storm’s historic power, noting that “the landfall wind and pressure for both [Melissa and the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane] was 185 mph and 892 millibars.”
By Tuesday evening, Melissa’s eye had moved off Jamaica’s northwest coast as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 145 mph. Officials confirmed three deaths, but that toll is expected to rise as rescue operations continue. Melissa is now heading toward Cuba, where it is forecast to make landfall early Wednesday as a Category 4 storm before striking the Bahamas later in the week.
