- Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 storm with severe impacts.
- It then hit Cuba overnight as a dangerous Category 3 hurricane.
- The hurricane is now making its way to the southeastern Bahamas.
- Countries not in the direct path of the storm have also seen destruction and damage.
After hitting Jamaica on Tuesday, Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Cuba overnight as a strong and dangerous Category 3 hurricane and now continues its journey through the Caribbean toward the Bahamas.
As well as causing destruction in Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas, countries not in the direct path of the storm, such Haiti and the Dominican Republic, have also seen damage and destruction from Hurricane Melissa.
Though reports are just trickling in due to challenging conditions on the islands, it appears the hardest hit area could be southern Haiti where torrential rains caused a river to burst its banks, killing at least 25 people, per reports.
The storm first made landfall in Jamaica around 1 p.m. EDT on Tuesday as the strongest hurricane to ever hit the island. Later in the day, the country’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the country a disaster area, per NBC News. The storm caused major damage to public infrastructure and knocked out power in most of the island.
Once it made landfall in Jamaica, Hurricane Melissa began to weaken.
After making its way out of Jamaica and to Cuba, the storm also caused significant damage to multiple Cuban provinces, as hundreds of thousands of people rode out the storm in shelters.
The storm is one of the strongest hurricanes ever to make landfall in the Atlantic and is the most powerful storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, per CNN.
On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department announced that it will deploy disaster response teams to the Caribbean countries impacted by Melissa.
Hurricane Melissa death toll
In southern Haiti, torrential rains from Hurricane Melissa caused a river to burst its banks, killing at least 25 people, per USA Today. Three other people had been killed in Haiti from the effects of Melissa earlier in the week.
One person was also killed earlier in the week in the Dominican Republic and three people died in Jamaica during storm preparations.
According to CNN, the Jamaican government “is not in a position to make an official statement on deaths” that may have been caused by the hurricane. No official death toll has been released by the country.
There is at least one confirmed death that has been reported in Jamaica, which occurred when a tree fell on a baby in the western portion of the nation, per The Associated Press.
Hurricane Melissa sweeps through Jamaica, causing devastating damage
On Tuesday, Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm with top winds of 185 mph. This brought dangerous winds, flash floods and landslides to the small island nation.
In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, multiple parishes in Jamaica have reported floodwater, blocked roads and fallen trees and utility lines. The strong winds also tore the roof off houses and other buildings, per USA Today.
The parish of St. Elizabeth was reported to be submerged by flooding and its only public hospital lost power and received severe damage.
According to The New York Times, Jamaica’s information minister Dana Morris Dixon said that the storm had knocked out power to 70% of the country. The government has directed utility crews to begin restoring power and telecommunication services across the island nation.
“I know so many people have said they cannot reach their families in Western Jamaica. That’s because of damage to the telecoms infrastructure,” Morris Dixon said, according to The New York Times.
The brunt of the damage from the storm occurred in the western part of the country, but Morris Dixon said in a Wednesday news conference that the central part of Jamaica also had “a lot of damage, a lot of flooding.”
As Hurricane Melissa moves further away from the island, Jamaica still has a risk of flash flooding and landslides continuing into Wednesday night.
Overall, forecasters estimate the country will have seen up to 24 inches of rain from the storm, with some mountain areas receiving much more, per The New York Times.
Cuba also sees plenty of destruction and damage caused by Hurricane Melissa
In Cuba, officials have reported collapsed houses, blocked roads and roofs blown off buildings. The most destruction was done in the southwest and northwest, according to the AP.
Authorities reported that around 735,000 people remained in shelters.
Parts of Cuba’s Granma province, especially its municipal capital Jiguaní, were reported to be underwater, per the AP. Over 15 inches of rain was reported in Jiguaní’s settlement of Charco Redondo.
Hurricane Melissa continues on its path of destruction toward the Bahamas
After making its way off Cuba, Hurricane Melissa had sustained winds of 100 mph and was moving northeast, per the AP. The center of the storm is forecast to pass through southeastern Bahamas later Wednesday, causing life-threatening storm surge and flooding rains.
Authorities said the southeastern Bahamas should expect up to 25 inches of rainfall and 4 to 7 feet of storm surge.
Ahead of the storm officially making landfall in the Bahamas, the country had already began to experience hurricane conditions. The worst conditions are expected in places like Crooked Island, Long Island and the Acklins, per The New York Times.
Around 1,500 residents in the Bahamas were evacuated in anticipation of Hurricane Melissa’s arrival, before all flights were suspended.
According to the AP, the storm is growing in size as its winds expand out from the center, now extending out almost 200 miles.
After traveling through the Bahamas, Hurricane Melissa is expected to pass just west of Bermuda by late Thursday.
What does it mean for a hurricane to make landfall?
Landfall officially occurs when the center of a hurricane, specifically the center of the eye of the storm, reaches the shore.
“The eyewall, which encircles the eye and packs the storm’s strongest winds, will reach land first. And while that’s a significant and potentially dangerous moment, it’s not officially landfall,” per The New York Times.