11.44pm GMT
The Mayor of Black River, Richard Solomon, has described Hurricane Melissa’s impact on the coastal town in the southwestern parish of St Elizabeth, as catastrophic.
Speaking with the Guardian, he recounted the traumatic experience of riding out the category five, “storm of the century” at an emergency operating centre. He said:
The hurricane came around eight in the morning and lasted for around nine hours, during which we were pounded with heavy winds and a lot of rain. We got up to 16 feet of water at the centre. That was a bit scary for us, and we were hoping that it would not rise any further, because we were on the second floor, and I tell you, when we saw the water rising, it was a scary moment for us,” he said.
The entire town of Black River is devastated. And that devastation is so catastrophic that the prime minister classified this area as ground zero.
Black River is now without water and electricity and most buildings have lost their roof, Solomon said.
All the town’s vehicles and critical services, fire, police, hospitals, supermarkets are “immensely damaged”, he said, making search and rescue and damage assessment almost impossible.
Solomon, who was personally impacted said he was now focused on trying to help the most vulnerable and said:
My vehicle was totally covered by water. My roof went, so I do understand the pain that persons are feeling, but what is a priority for me now is to focus on getting aid relief for the most vulnerable at this point.
The mayor said that five people from Black River were confirmed dead, but he has heard of other deaths, which he has not yet been able to confirm due to the challenges with communications and transportation.
Solomon estimates that it will take billions to rebuild Black River after Melissa’s annihilation. The focus now, he said, was clearing impassable roads, which have cut off the town. He said:
We are now trying to get the major thoroughfares and critical lateral roads here so that we can get relief supplies in. As I indicated, most of our supermarkets, if not all, were impacted negatively so they won’t be able to provide supplies to persons who are in need at this time.
11.18pm GMT
Summary of the day so far
The death toll from Hurricane Melissa has continued to rise as the storm left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean. If you’re just joining us now, here are some of the key moments of the day so far:
Dozens of people have died in Haiti after Melissa’s rains swelled river banks, according to reports. At least 25 people have been killed, according to latest updates.
In Jamaica, authorities confirmed four bodies had been recovered on Wednesday. Two people were found dead in the Black River area, the other two in the Gallon Beach district. Melissa slammed into Jamaica as a record-breaking and destructive category 5 storm with sustained winds of 185 mph before being downgraded to a category 3 when it hit Cuba with winds of 120 mph, according to the US National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane Melissa was downgraded to a category one storm late on Wednesday, with maximum wind speeds of 90mph before it hits the south east or central Bahamas.
Disaster Assistance Response Team personnel from across the US were on their way to Jamaica, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic, where they will also attend to issues in neighbouring Haiti, three US state department officials have told the Associated Press. They were expected to arrive in the next 24-48 hours.
Jamaican officials said buildings on the island had suffered structural damage, roads were still impassable and power outages continued to be widespread. Airports were set to reopen on Thursday for emergency relief flights after damage there was said to be superficial.
At least 241 communities remained isolated and without communications following the storm’s passage across Santiago province, according to preliminary local media reports, affecting as many as 140,000 residents.
Across eastern Cuba, authorities evacuated around 735,000 people as the storm approached. Most remained in emergency centers. Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel said the country had suffered extensive damage and warned residents against letting down their guard as rains continued to lash the region.
Updated at 11.21pm GMT
11.02pm GMT
The death toll from Hurricane Melissa in Haiti has been updated – with officials saying at least 25 people have been killed as the storm raged through the country.
10.27pm GMT
On Wednesday evening, Melissa had top sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph) and was moving northeast at 16 mph (26 kph) according to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami. The hurricane was centered about 80 miles (135 kilometers) southeast of the central Bahamas.
Authorities in the Bahamas were evacuating dozens of people from the archipelago’s southeast corner ahead of Melissa’s arrival, the Associated Press reports.
Melissa’s center is forecast to move through southeastern Bahamas later Wednesday, generating up to 7 feet (2 meters) of storm surge in the area. By late Thursday, Melissa is expected to pass just west of Bermuda.
10.18pm GMT
Jamaica's airports to reopen on Thursday
Jamaica’s airports are set to reopen for emergency relief flights on Thursday, officials have said. Dary Vaz, the minister of energy, telecommunications and transport, said Normal Manley international airport in Kingston had sustained only superficial damage and that the main road to the airport was not damaged.
Ian Fleming airport in St Mary and Sangster international airport in Montego Bay would also report. Vaz said: “There are a lot of Jamaicans and other persons who want to help who we want to get in.”
Updated at 10.54pm GMT
9.48pm GMT
Hurricane downgraded to category one en route towards The Bahamas
Hurricane Melissa has been downgraded to a category one storm, with maximum wind speeds of 90mph. It’s expected to move across the south east or central Bahamas in the next few hours and then move to the west of Bermuda late on Thursday.
Updated at 9.54pm GMT
9.16pm GMT
US sending several dozen disaster relief workers and urban rescue teams to Caribbean
Disaster Assistance Response Team personnel from across the US are currently on their way to Jamaica, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic, where they will also attend to issues in neighbouring Haiti, three US state department officials have told the Associated Press. They are expected to arrive in the next 24-48 hours.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the teams are not yet on the ground, said anticipated needs include temporary housing, food and hygiene kits.
They said the US military could play a role in transporting personnel and supplies to remote areas needing help but that a decision on the scale of such involvement had not yet been made.
The BBC hears similar, also reporting that the US was sending a disaster response team to Jamaica to assess the scale of need in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.
Senior state department officials told the BBC that formal requests for help had also come from Haiti, which would be managed from the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas - which had requested air support.
The officials said a team of US experts in water sanitation, food assistance and shelter was on its way to Jamaica and would be on the ground in the next 24 hours to assess needs, with supplies then following. They added that two search and rescue teams based in California and Virginia had been “activated” for the region and they were “trying to get them in as soon as we can”.
Earlier, US secretary of state Marco Rubio had said the White House was in close contact with governments in the Caribbean. “We have rescue and response teams heading to affected areas along with critical lifesaving supplies,” he said on social media.
Updated at 9.18pm GMT
9.06pm GMT
Residents of Montego Bay in north-west Jamaica have described the “terrifying” experience of living through Hurricane Melissa. Gabrielle, a 31-year-old resident of the Catherine Hall neighbourhood said she and her four-year-old daughter had to be rescued when flood water poured into their home.
9.03pm GMT
Satellite images show Jamaica before and after the hurricane
Here are satellite images showing before and after overviews of some of the neighbourhoods and areas of Jamaica that have been devastated by Hurricane Melissa.
Updated at 9.06pm GMT
8.56pm GMT
The year 2025 joins 2005 as the only two years on record with three or more category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic basin, with Melissa set to go down in history as the strongest landfall on record in Jamaica and one of the most powerful hurricanes ever in the Atlantic.
“This has been a remarkably unique hurricane season with very powerful storms. Hurricane Melissa was able to maintain Category 5 strength for a staggering 34 hours before it hit Jamaica,” AccuWeather’s lead hurricane expert Alex DaSilva said. “Melissa is the third storm this season to explode into a Category 5 hurricane. Exceptionally warm waters across the Atlantic basin provided ample energy for storms to rapidly intensify this year. The only year on record with more Category 5 storms was 2005, with four storms.”
8.41pm GMT
The UN secretary-general’s office has expressed grave concern about the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa across the Caribbean.
The UN has offered full support to countries across the region and has allocated $4m each for Haiti and Cuba in emergency funding. Officials said they were working with authorities and humanitarian partners to, with additional staff ready to deploy at short notice.
A spokesperson for António Guterres said in a statement:
The secretary-general stands in solidarity with the governments and people affected by Hurricane Melissa. He conveys his heartfelt condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured.
Dennis Zulu, the UN’s resident coordinator based in Kingston, told reporters on Wednesday that the government was working to working to open the airport in Kingston on Thursday, which would be crucial for the flow of aid from the UN regional hubs and depots in Barbados and Panama. “There has been tremendous unprecedented devastation of infrastructure, of property, road network connectivity, energy has been lost,” said Zulu.
Updated at 8.46pm GMT
8.38pm GMT
As my colleague Nina Lakhani just reported, Jamaican officials have reported four deaths as a result of Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall on Tuesday as the strongest hurricane on record to directly hit the island.
“I am saddened to announce that four persons - three men and one woman - have been confirmed dead by the police in St. Elizabeth. They were discovered after being washed up by the flood waters generated by the hurricane,” Desmond McKenzie, Jamaica’s minister for local government and community development, said in a press release.
8.34pm GMT
During a press conference, Floyd Green – a Jamaican cabinet minister – also told reporters that more than 90% of houses, including some historic buildings, suffered structural damage.
Access to the town of Black River was difficult and there was a continued lack of connectivity and electricity outages due to downed power lines.
Floyd said: “We’ve suffered a devastating blow … The entire town has been almost completely wiped out by Hurricane Melissa.”
8.22pm GMT
Four bodies recovered in Jamaica on Wednesday morning, officials confirm
The head of the St Elizabeth parish police in Jamaica, Supt Coleridge Minto, has confirmed that four bodies were found on Wednesday morning.
Two were recovered in the Black River area, the other two in the Gallon Beach district. This brings the preliminary death toll in Jamaica to seven people and includes residents killed while preparing for the category 5 hurricane to make landfall. The south-western parish of St Elizabeth was among the worst flooded on Tuesday, and described by local officials as being “under water”.
Haiti, which is one of the most climate vulnerable and politically fragile countries in the world, has suffered the highest death toll by some margin. But reports of deaths across Melissa’s path are emerging. In neighboring Dominican Republic, a man died on Wednesday after being swept away by floodwaters while trying to clean debris from a sewer, according to Julian Alberto Garcia Roman, a local emergency official told the NYT. A nine-year-old child is also reportedly missing in the capital Santo Domingo.
Updated at 8.40pm GMT
7.54pm GMT
King Charles III expresses sorrow over 'catastrophic damage' caused by hurricane
Britain’s King Charles III said he and his wife, Queen Camilla, were “profoundly saddened” by the “catastrophic damage” caused by Hurricane Melissa.
In a social media message, the king expressed his concern and admiration for those affected by the disaster. And he paid tribute to emergency services, frontline workers and volunteers.
The statement from King Charles said:
This most dreadful of record-breaking storms reminds us of the increasingly urgent need to restore the balance and harmony of Nature for the sake of all those whose lives and livelihoods may have been shattered by this heartbreaking disaster.
His message came after the UK government announced £2.5m ($3.3m) in emergency funding for the region, after the deadly storm battered fellow Commonwealth nation Jamaica, then Cuba and Haiti.
British prime minister Keir Starmer called the devastation caused by the storm “truly shocking”.
The funding will be used for supplies including shelter kits, water filters and blankets, as well as to help prevent injury and disease outbreaks, the government said.
Updated at 8.16pm GMT
7.35pm GMT
Estimates of the economic cost of category 5 Melissa on Jamaica are starting to emerge, even though the full extent of the damage from floods, storm surge, wind and landslides is not yet clear.
According to Enki Research, models are estimating direct economic impacts from damaged and destroyed buildings and infrastructure at between $6bn and $10bn dollars. Enki’s best guess is around $7.7bn, which is equivalent to 37% of Jamaica’s GDP in 2024 ($20.6bn).
Analysts at AccuWeather on the other hand reckon $22bn once the physical damage and economic losses are taken into account.
Melissa is almost certain to trigger a full payout from Jamaica’s catastrophe bond, an insurance scheme backed by 15 undisclosed investors that was arranged by the World Bank last year. Catastrophe or cat bonds are designed for only the most extreme weather events, and have to meet strict criteria before payouts are triggered. The last time a weather-related cat bond paid out in full was in connection with Hurricane Ian in 2022.
It will likely take days for a full damage assessment to be completed in Jamaica, and then years for the island’s 2.9m people to recover.
7.12pm GMT
Death toll in Haiti rises to 40 - report
The Associated Press is now reporting that at least 40 people have died across Haiti, a rise from the 25 deaths reported earlier.
Steven Aristil, with Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency, told the AP that 20 of those deaths were reported in the southern coastal town of Petit-Goâve, where another 10 remain missing.Earlier on Wednesday, the mayor of Petit-Goâve, Jean Bertrand Subrème, had told the AP that flooding from Hurricane Melissa had killed at least 25 people were killed in that community.
7.01pm GMT
In line with reports from this morning, Jamaica’s prime minister Andrew Holness said this afternoon that there are still no confirmed reports of deaths in the country so far.
In a post on X he said:
We are reassuring every Jamaican, especially those in the western parishes, that your Government stands firmly with you. We know many of you are hurting, uncertain, and anxious after Hurricane Melissa, but please know that you are not alone.
So far, there have been no confirmed reports of deaths, and we are thankful for that. Our teams are on the ground working tirelessly to rescue, restore, and bring relief where it’s needed most.
Recovery will take time, but the Government is fully mobilized. Relief supplies are being prepared, and we are doing everything possible to restore normalcy quickly.
To every Jamaican, hold strong. We will rebuild, we will recover.
Updated at 7.04pm GMT
6.54pm GMT
The day so far
If you’re just joining us, Hurricane Melissa barrelled north of Cuba on Wednesday after hitting the city of Santiago and isolating hundreds of rural communities while wreaking devastation in Jamaica and drenching Haiti, where 25 people have been killed.
Melissa slammed into Jamaica as a record-breaking and destructive category 5 storm with sustained winds of 185 mph before being downgraded to a category 3 when it hit Cuba with winds of 120 mph, according to the US National Hurricane Center.
The storm moved north on Wednesday afternoon and had been downgraded to a still dangerous category 2 storm, threatening the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos with damaging winds, rain and storm surge. “Life-threatening storm surge, flash flooding and landslides, and damaging winds are ongoing this afternoon,” the NHC said.
At least 241 communities remained isolated and without communications following the storm’s passage across Santiago province, according to preliminary local media reports, affecting as many as 140,000 residents.
Across eastern Cuba, authorities evacuated around 735,000 people as the storm approached. Most remained in emergency centers. Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel said the country had suffered extensive damage and warned residents against letting down their guard as rains continued to lash the region.
The island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, has faced days of torrential downpours leading to at least four deaths, authorities there said.
Another 25 people died in Petit-Goâve, Haiti, after Melissa’s rains swelled a river’s banks, the Associated Press reported, citing the local mayor.
Jamaica’s government gave an “all clear” to begin recovery efforts after Melissa, the strongest storm ever to directly hit the island, blasted the island’s western region, demolishing homes, knocking down swaths of trees and washing out roadways.
About 77% of the country was without electricity, the government’s information minister said on Wednesday morning. The capital Kingston was spared the worst damage, and authorities hoped to reopen its main airport on Thursday.
Authorities said there were no reports of deaths as of Wednesday morning, but said fatalities were possible given the extensive damage.
In southwestern Jamaica, the parish of St. Elizabeth was left underwater, an official said, with more than 500,000 residents without power.
“The reports that we have had so far would include damage to hospitals, significant damage to residential property, housing and commercial property as well, and damage to our road infrastructure,” Jamaican prime minister Andrew Holness said on CNN after the storm passed. “Our country has been ravaged by Hurricane Melissa but we will rebuild and we will do so even better than before,” he said.
Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he was prepared to assist with Jamaica’s recovery. The US state department said it would send search-and-rescue teams.
The storm’s center, churning with violent wind gusts over 125 mph and heavy rain, slammed early on Wednesday into Guama, a rural, mountainous area 25 miles west of Santiago de Cuba, the island’s second-most populous city.
The storm pressed on north-northeast across eastern Cuba. Authorities had shut down power to virtually all of eastern Cuba, evacuated vulnerable areas and asked residents to shelter in place in the provincial capital Santiago, a city of 400,000 people.
By Wednesday afternoon, residents of Santiago began to venture onto the street to survey damage along flooded and debris-littered roads lined with fallen trees and power lines. Many homes had lost roofs in the powerful morning winds, and heavy rains had caused rivers to overflow their banks, isolating communities in rural areas.
6.33pm GMT
'Dangerous storm surge' expected in Bahamas tonight
An update from the US National Hurricane Center warns that “damaging winds, flooding rains and a dangerous storm surge” are anticipated in The Bahamas through tonight and in eastern Cuba this afternoon.
A hurricane warning remains in place for areas including Bermuda, while a tropical storm warning is in place for the Turks and Caicos Islands among others.
6.08pm GMT
Here are some photos coming through from the news wires of the damage and flooding Hurricane Melissa has wreaked in eastern Cuba.
5.56pm GMT
Ellena Jackson last spoke to her brother on Monday as they were preparing for the storm. He had travelled to St Elizabeth with her nephew, mother and stepfather for a relative’s funeral last week, unaware that a storm of this scale would hit Jamaica.
“We haven’t heard anything from them since Monday morning, so we don’t know where they are,” said Jackson, 44, from London. The only news since has come from a neighbour in Montego Bay, where another brother was staying.
“We can’t function properly. Not just me, my sister, cousins,” she said. “It’s really scary. It’s just the not knowing, because we don’t know where they are and what’s happening.”
5.32pm GMT
As the hurricane hit Jamaica on Tuesday, Britons who had travelled to the island and were among those sheltering from the storm told the Guardian no travel warnings were issued by the UK government, travel agents or airlines beforehand.
A foreign office spokesperson said government travel advice includes information about hurricane season, which runs from June to November. Last Thursday, travel advice for Jamaica was updated to include a warning about tropical storm Melissa, they said, and that the storm was expected to intensify in the coming days.
“The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority, and that is why we are urging any British nationals in Jamaica to follow the guidance of the local authorities and register their presence with us to receive updates,” the spokesperson said.
Sarah Pannell had been in Montego Bay with her family, constantly checking the US’s National Hurricane Centre for alerts. After Jamaica was put under tropical storm warning, they made the decision to travel to Kingston on Thursday afternoon to be nearer the airport.
“It felt early to be making those calls as the weather was fine,” said Pannell, as they considered cutting their holiday two days short to fly back to London on Friday. “It was a lot of uncertainty.”
In Kingston, they stayed with friends who were starting to prepare for the storm. Not wanting to risk being caught in a storm with two young children or being a burden on their friends, they looked to book an evening flight out on Friday again with British Airways, but it was full.
When they did leave early the following Saturday morning, there weren’t other travellers trying to get flights out at that point, she recalled, nor was there any panic at the airport.
“It did feel like no one else was making that call,” said Pannell. When they stopped over in Miami, they learned Jamaica had shut the airport, after warning it would likely do so within 24 hours of a hurricane warning.
“It’s just really horrible seeing it and knowing that decision was clearly the right one,” said Pannell from London. “It’s really surreal and horrible seeing how much destruction there’s been.”
5.06pm GMT
Drone footage captured damage caused by Hurricane Melissa in Alligator Pond, a fishing village in Jamaica, on Wednesday.
Buildings, boats, and homes close to the coast were impacted after the storm made landfall.
Hurricane Melissa unleashed devastation in Jamaica as the strongest storm on record ever to hit the Caribbean island nation
4.52pm GMT
Hurricane Melissa has slammed into Cuba after leaving parts of neighbouring Jamaica broken and reeling from ferocious winds and extreme rainfall.
The most intense tropical cyclone to hit Jamaica in nearly two centuries, Melissa is one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes observed since record-keeping began. Climate scientists say human-caused global heating has contributed to the rapid intensification of modern-day storms.
Many Jamaicans woke up on Wednesday without power, with reports of whole neighbourhoods submerged. The prime minister, Andrew Holness, has declared the country a disaster area, giving authorities extra powers such as issuing mandatory evacuation orders for flooded regions and preventing price gouging.
Massive damage was reported across the island, much of it in the western parts, where the category 5 cyclonic storm moved diagonally across ground at a slow pace, ripping roofs from buildings and flipping over cars. Photos showed a tree ripped out of the ground by the roots and roads submerged by gravel and earth.
Jamaica’s minister of local government, Desmond McKenzie, said the hurricane was “one of the worst experiences that [Jamaica] has ever encountered”.
“Our infrastructure has been severely compromised,” he said. “The entire Jamaica has felt the brunt of Melissa.” There are close to 15,000 people in shelters and more than 530,000 without electricity, in a country of 2.8 million.
Related: Hurricane Melissa hits Cuba after turning Jamaica into ‘disaster area’
4.31pm GMT
In Jamaica, officials told local radio there was extensive damage in the island’s southwestern and northwestern regions.
“There’s a total communication blackout on that side,” said Richard Thompson, acting director general of Jamaica’s Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.
More than half a million customers were without power late Tuesday as officials reported that most of the island had downed trees, power lines and extensive flooding.
Extensive damage was reported in parts of Clarendon in the south and in the southwestern parish of St Elizabeth, which was “under water,” said Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Council.
The storm damaged four hospitals and left one without power, forcing officials to evacuate 75 patients, McKenzie said.
4.02pm GMT
A British woman living in Jamaica said she feared she would have to “grab the kids and run” as Hurricane Melissa struck the country.
Cheshire-born Michaela Menezes is sheltering with her children Luca, 14, and Isabella, 10, in the R Hotel near her home in Kingston, fearing her property may lose its electricity and water supply.
She has lived in Jamaica for 14 years but said she has never experienced a weather event as severe as Hurricane Melissa - a category five hurricane which swept across the island on Tuesday and has now made landfall in Cuba as a category three storm.
Menezes, 45, told the PA news agency:
As soon as I heard (there was going to be a storm), I stocked up on supplies, but I thought to myself: ‘Hell no, this is beyond my remit’.
I’m British, I wasn’t raised to know what to do in a hurricane. I have never experienced anything that severe before, so I put my dog in the kennels and I found a hotel to book into, to ride it out for four days.
It was terrifying when the storm was taking place... It was very scary and I did have to manage that. I was in bed that first night and I thought, should I put my trainers on and my contact lenses in, in case I have to grab the kids and run?
Menezes, an event director, said she and her family had been “very lucky” compared to others, adding she had been unable to reach friends elsewhere in Jamaica who are without power.
She said her son Luca had received messages from school friends whose homes have been damaged in the storm, with solar panels having “blown off” their houses. Menezes will drive home on Wednesday to assess any damage to her property and decide on her family’s next steps.
3.36pm GMT
Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica’s education minister, said that 77% of the island was without power on Wednesday.
“That is a large number,” she said, adding that the water systems, however, were not greatly affected.
She said prime minister Andrew Holness would soon fly over the most affected areas, including St Elizabeth, Manchester, West Moreland and St James, where crews were still trying to access areas and determine the extent of the damage.
“It is too early for us to say definitely,” she noted.
3.14pm GMT
25 people die in southern Haiti after river flooded by Hurricane Melissa burst its banks, mayor says
The mayor of a southern Haitian coastal town told the Associated Press that 25 people died after a river burst its banks and flooded nearby homes.
Dozens of homes in Petit-Goave collapsed, and people were still trapped under rubble as of Wednesday morning, mayor Jean Bertrand Subreme said.
“I am overwhelmed by the situation,” he said as he pleaded with the government to help rescue victims.
Only one official from Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency was in the area, with residents struggling to evacuate amid heavy floodwaters unleashed by Hurricane Melissa in recent days.
2.46pm GMT
Here are some photos from Cuba, as the country prepares for the storm:
2.20pm GMT
Unicef reported on social media that it was sending aid to Cuba, including 1,900 sheets of roofing material, waterproof blankets, recreation kits for 20,000 children, and school supplies for 10,000 children under five.
In a post on X, the organisation said:
Hurricane Melissa’s landfall in Jamaica has caused devastating damage, with severe impacts felt across the wider Caribbean region.
Unicef is on the ground, supporting national authorities and working with partners to respond to the most urgent needs of children and families.
1.52pm GMT
Flooding from Hurricane Melissa kills at least 10 in Haiti, say officials
At least 10 people in Haiti have been killed in floods caused by Hurricane Melissa, which has been battering the Caribbean region, local authorities told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday.
The La Digue River, in the coastal town of Petit-Goave, overflowed its banks, sweeping away several people. According to the town’s mayor, Bertrand Supreme, and the director general of a local hospital, more than ten bodies have been recovered, while the search continues for those still missing.
1.43pm GMT
The strongest storm to hit Jamaica since record-keeping began made landfall on Tuesday, leaving more than 530,000 residents without power.
The prime minister, Andrew Holness, declared the whole island a disaster area. On Wednesday the storm headed towards Cuba, where hundreds of thousands were evacuated.
Here is a Guardian video report on the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa:
1.33pm GMT
Hurricane Melissa left roads and homes flooded in Cuba on Wednesday, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporters said, after the downgraded but still major storm made landfall on the island after leaving a trail of destruction across Jamaica.
AFP reporters in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba reported that streets and homes were flooded, with debris littering the streets of the city.
1.24pm GMT
UK government to provide £2.5m in emergency humanitarian funding to support Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa
The UK government is providing £2.5m in emergency humanitarian funding to support Jamaica’s recovery from the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, Downing Street has announced.
Funding will go towards a rapid humanitarian response, reports the PA news agency.
1.09pm GMT
As many as 8,000 British nationals are in Jamaica, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has urged them to register their presence through the government website to receive updates on the hurricane, reports the PA news agency.
On Tuesday, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said a crisis centre had been set up to help Britons on the Caribbean island.
A spokesperson for the FCDO said:
We understand how worrying developments in Jamaica are for British nationals and their families, their safety and security is our top priority.
Our travel advice is regularly updated and includes information about hurricane season, which runs from June to November. Yesterday we launched Register Your Presence, and urge British nationals in Jamaica to sign up to receive updates.
12.35pm GMT
Starmer told MPs on Wednesday that naval vessel HMS Trent and “specialist rapid deployment teams” had been “pre-positioned in the region” to provide support.
At the start of Prime Minister’s Questions, the UK prime minister told the Commons: “The scenes of destruction emerging from Jamaica are truly shocking.
“Both the foreign secretary and I have been in close contact with our Jamaican counterparts in recent days to offer the UK’s full support.
“I can update the House that HMS Trent and specialist rapid deployment teams are pre-positioned in the region, and we stand ready to provide humanitarian support.”
12.17pm GMT
The scenes of destruction in Jamaica are “truly shocking” and the UK is “ready to provide humanitarian support” in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, prime mister Keir Starmer has told MPs today.
He added that the Royal Navy’s HMS Trent is pre-positioned in the region.
11.59am GMT
In El Cobre, Cuba, rescue workers were attempting to reach 17 people trapped by rising flood waters and a landslide, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports, citing state media.
“We are safe and trying to stay calm,” rheumatologist Lionnis Francos, one of those stranded, told the official news site Cubadebate. He did not mention any fatalities.
Two children, five elderly people, asthmatics, and people with high blood pressure are among those trapped. “The rescuers arrived quickly. They called us, but couldn’t cross because the road is blocked,” the doctor added.
11.48am GMT
Curtains of rain, dark skies, and raging seas lashed Cuba, as local authorities declared a “state of alert” in six eastern provinces, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Carrying loved ones and a handful of quickly snatched belongings, Cuban families trekked along narrow paths slick with mud and fringed by dense greenery to head to relative safety.
Others, visibly distraught, squeezed on to crowded buses – gripping handrails and bags – or loaded on to lorries, reports AFP.
11.32am GMT
The extraordinary intensification of Hurricane Melissa is likely to be a symptom of the rapid heating of the world’s oceans.
Melissa is the fourth storm in the Atlantic this year to undergo rapid intensification of its wind speed and power. This sort of intensification has been linked to the human-caused climate crisis, which is causing oceans to become hotter.
Researchers at Climate Central, a nonprofit organisation that analyses climate science, found that during Melissa’s rapid intensification the storm drifted over exceptionally warm ocean waters that were 1.4C hotter than average. These conditions were made up to 700 times more likely because of the climate crisis, the organisation said.
Interactive
How warm seas contribute to hurricane frequency and strength.
Last year, the world’s oceans were the warmest on record, continuing a recent trend of record-breaking marine heat.
Related: Hurricane Melissa: a visual guide to the storm devastating Jamaica and Cuba
Updated at 11.41am GMT
11.11am GMT
As daylight returned to Jamaica early on Wednesday, eyewitness reports and videos on social media showed swaths of downed trees, washed-out roads and roofs tossed about fields and roadways, reports Reuters.
Video of the airport in Montego Bay, seen by the news agency, showed inundated seating areas, broken glass and collapsed ceilings.
Jamaican officials said about 25,000 tourists were in the country.
10.51am GMT
Authorities have shut down power to virtually all of eastern Cuba, evacuated vulnerable areas and had asked residents to shelter in place in the provincial capital Santiago, a city of 400,000 people.
Reuters reports that scarce videos posted by local media showed torrents of brown rainwater rushing down roads through dark towns at the base of Cuba’s Sierra Maestra mountains not far from the city.
Authorities reported widespread flooding of lowland areas early on Wednesday from Santiago to Guantánamo, where upwards of 35% of the population had been evacuated.
The timing could not be worse for the communist-run Caribbean island. Cuba is already suffering from food, fuel, electricity and medicine shortages that have complicated life for many, prompting record-breaking migration off the island since 2021.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Cuba had nonetheless mobilised 2,500 electric line workers to begin recovery immediately after the storm’s passage across the island later on Wednesday.
The hurricane is not expected to directly affect the capital Havana.
10.36am GMT
The United Nations (UN) is planning an airlift of 2,000 relief kits to Jamaica from a supply station in Barbados once air travel is possible, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Assistance is also planned for other affected countries, including Cuba and Haiti, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists.
Jamaica’s climate change minister told CNN that Hurricane Melissa’s effect was “catastrophic,” citing flooded homes and “severely damaged public infrastructure” and hospitals.
10.15am GMT
In its latest update, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Hurricane Melissa was located about 230 miles (370km) south of the central Bahamas, with maximum sustained winds of 115mph (185kph).
The agency warned residents of Cuba to remain sheltered and that preparations for the storm in the Bahamas “should be rushed to completion”.Melissa was forecast to weaken as it crosses Cuba through the morning, and remain a strong hurricane as it moves across the southeastern or central Bahamas later on Wednesday. The storm is then expected to make its way late on Thursday near or to the west of Bermuda, where a hurricane watch is in effect.
Updated at 10.16am GMT
10.10am GMT
Mathue Tapper, 31, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) from Kingston that those in the capital were “lucky” but feared for fellow Jamaicans in the island’s more rural western areas.
Broad scientific consensus says human-driven climate change is responsible for intensified storms such as Hurricane Melissa, which are increasingly frequent in the region and bring higher potential for destruction and deadly flooding.
“Human-caused climate change is making all of the worst aspects of Hurricane Melissa even worse,” climate scientist Daniel Gilford told AFP.
The Jamaican Red Cross, which was distributing drinking water and hygiene kits ahead of infrastructure disruptions, said Melissa’s “slow nature” exacerbated the anxiety.
9.51am GMT
Jamaican prime minister says island is a 'disaster area' after Hurricane Melissa
Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica as a category 5 hurricane around midday on Tuesday with sustained winds of up to 185mph (295km/h), the worst hurricane to hit the island since meteorological records began. It took hours to cross Jamaica before first weakening and then intensifying again.
Jamaican prime minister Andrew Holness declared the island a “disaster area” and authorities warned residents to remain sheltered because of continued flooding and the risk of landslides.
Lisa Sangster, a 30-year-old communications specialist in Kingston, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that her home was devastated by the storm. She told the news agency:
My sister … explained that parts of our roof was blown off and other parts caved in and the entire house was flooded.
The scale of Melissa’s damage in Jamaica was not yet clear. A comprehensive assessment could take days because much of the island was still without power, with communications networks badly disrupted.
Government minister Desmond McKenzie said several hospitals had been damaged, including in Saint Elizabeth, a coastal district he said was “underwater.” In a briefing, he said:
The damage to Saint Elizabeth is extensive, based on what we have seen.
Saint Elizabeth is the breadbasket of the country, and that has taken a beating. The entire Jamaica has felt the brunt of Melissa.
The hurricane was the worst to strike Jamaica, hitting land with maximum wind speeds more powerful than many of recent history’s strongest storms, including 2005’s Katrina that ravaged the US city of New Orleans.
9.24am GMT
Cuban authorities say 735,000 people have been evacuated so far as president warns it will be 'very difficult night'
A downgraded Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Cuba early on Wednesday after ripping a path of destruction across Jamaica, which authorities have designated a “disaster area.”
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Melissa, which it described as an “extremely dangerous hurricane”, had weakened to a category 3 storm before it made landfall in Santiago de Cuba province on the island’s southern coast.
It hit with maximum sustained winds of approximately 120miles (195km) per hour, the NHC said, after fluctuating between category 3 and category 5, the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
Cuban residents fled the coast as it approached, with local authorities declaring a “state of alert” in six eastern provinces.
Residents told Agence France-Presse (AFP) they had been stockpiling food, candles, and batteries since Monday. Graciela Lamaison told AFP in Santiago de Cuba:
We bought bread, spaghetti, and ground beef. This cyclone is serious, but we’ll get through it.
Authorities in Haiti, east of Cuba, ordered the closure of schools, businesses and government offices on Wednesday.
Cuban authorities reported that 735,000 people have been evacuated so far.
Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel said on social media platform X:
It will be a very difficult night for all of Cuba, but we will recover.
Floraina Duany, 80, prayed on Tuesday to Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, patron saint of Cuba, asking that Melissa not cause damage, reports AFP.
“If you are the mistress of the waters, break up [Hurricane Melissa] so it doesn’t do us so much harm,” she told AFP near her home in Playa Siboney, a town 25 miles (15km) from Santiago de Cuba.
Updated at 10.29am GMT
8.59am GMT
British nationals who travelled to Jamaica have expressed concern that no travel warnings were issued by the UK government, travel agents or airlines before Hurricane Melissa hit the Caribbean island.
The slow-moving category 5 hurricane made landfall on Tuesday, killing three people during storm preparations and bringing maximum sustained winds of 180mph. It has caused widespread devastation, with authorities ordering mandatory evacuations.
On Tuesday the UK government advised those on the island to register their presence for updates and said a specialist team was being deployed in the region.
The foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, said:
Many people will be thinking about family and friends in Jamaica in the face of this very serious storm. We offer the UK’s full support and stand ready to mobilise resources to support British nationals and Jamaica, at its request.
Among those caught in the hurricane are a couple from north London who have been in lockdown at a Sandals resort in Whitehouse since Sunday night. They said their travel agent and airline British Airways – both of whom have been approached for comment – did not advise against travel before their Friday departure. Before their flight, a Foreign Office official told them there was no restriction in place.
“We would have moved our holiday otherwise,” said Carl Pheasant, who turned 61 today.
“When we were brought to our room, we initially thought we had been given an upgrade, but we didn’t realise it was because of safety, and it seems very secure,” he said. “It could be a lot worse. I feel sorry for the Jamaicans and a lot of people who are in wooden houses. They are in a much worse situation than we are.”
Hurricane Melissa was a tropical storm on Saturday before it was upgraded to a category 4 hurricane by early Sunday, and then to a category 5 by the US National Hurricane Center on Monday. It is expected to pass towards Cuba and the Bahamas by Wednesday.
However, much uncertainty remains for the couple, who are due to fly back to London on 7 November. They said they are more than three hours from Kingston airport, one of two national airports that has been closed until further notice.
Related: ‘We had no warning’: Britons sheltering from Hurricane Melissa criticise lack of travel alerts
8.47am GMT
Meteorologists at AccuWeather said Hurricane Melissa ranked as the third most intense hurricane observed in the Caribbean after Wilma in 2005 and Gilbert in 1988 – the last major storm to make landfall in Jamaica.
Scientists say hurricanes are intensifying faster with greater frequency as a result of warming ocean waters. In the past, many Caribbean leaders have called on wealthy, heavy-polluting nations to provide reparations in the form of aid or debt relief to tropical island countries.
8.25am GMT
Jamaica has gone through 'one of its worst periods', says local government minister after Hurricane Melissa
Desmond McKenzie, minister of local goverment of Jamaica and deputy chair of Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Council said in a televised address after Hurricane Melissa hit the island that Jamaica had gone through “one of its worst periods”.
He said:
Right across the country, almost every parish is experiencing blocked roads, fallen trees [and] utility poles, and excess flooding in many communities. Jamaica has gone through, what I can call, one of its worst periods.
Updated at 8.27am GMT
8.09am GMT
In the Bahamas, next in Hurricane Melissa’s path to the north-east, the government ordered evacuations of residents in southern portions of that archipelago, reports Reuters.
Farther to the east, Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, had faced days of torrential downpours leading to at least four deaths, authorities there said.
Local media reported at least three deaths in Jamaica during storm preparations, and a disaster coordinator suffered a stroke in the onset of the storm and was rushed to hospital. It is unclear whether the deaths were reported in local media before or after Jamaica’s prime minister Andrew Holness comments on CNN about the government having not received any confirmed storm-related fatalities (see 7.55am GMT) after the storm had passed.
7.55am GMT
Jamaica’s prime minister Andrew Holness said on CNN after the storm had passed that the government had not received any confirmed storm-related fatalities, but given the strength of Hurricane Melissa and the extent of the damage, “we are expecting that there would be some loss of life”.
The hurricane hit Jamaica when it roared ashore the island’s southwestern town of New Hope, packing sustained winds of up to 185mph (295kph), according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).
7.35am GMT
Hundreds of thousands evacuated to shelters as 120mph winds hit Cuba
Hundreds of thousands of people had been evacuated to shelters in Cuba, reports the Associated Press (AP). A hurricane warning is in effect for the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Holguin and Las Tunas.Hurricane Melissa had top sustained winds of 120mph (193kph) and was moving north-east at 10mph (16kph) according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The hurricane was centered 20 miles (32km) east of Chivirico and about 60 miles (97 kilometers) west-southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba.Melissa is forecast to cross the island through the morning and move into the Bahamas later on Wednesday. The continuing intense rain could cause life-threatening flooding with numerous landslides, US forecasters said.
Updated at 7.41am GMT
7.19am GMT
Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Cuba, NHC says
Hurricane Melissa made landfall on the southern coast of eastern Cuba on Wednesday as a category three hurricane, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory.
Melissa was located about 60 miles (95km) west-southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba, with maximum sustained winds of 120mph (195kph), the Miami-based forecaster said.
Updated at 10.16am GMT
7.00am GMT
President Miguel Díaz-Canel said officials have situated “multiple brigades” in eastern parts of the country to help with recovery efforts, according to state newspaper Granma.
Díaz-Canel said:
There are already brigades specialising in electricity, water resources, communications, and construction that will work alongside the forces in each territory, jointly, on the recovery efforts.
We know that this cyclone will cause a lot of damage… we will have the full capacity to recover in food production, in the reconstruction of homes that are destroyed or damaged, in the recovery of the economy, and also in the recovery and vitality of the country’s main productive and social processes.
6.40am GMT
Hurricane conditions spreading inland across warning areas in Cuba
As of 2am ET the National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued hurricane warnings for Cuban provinces of:
Granma
Santiago de Cuba
Guantanamo
Holguin
Las Tunas
The NHC said: “Residents in Cuba should seek safe shelter immediately.”
A NHC hurricane warning is also in place for:
Southeastern and Central Bahamas
The NHC said: “In the Bahamas preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion.”
A hurricane watch, where hurricane conditions are possible, is in effect for:
Bermuda
A tropical storm warning is in effect for:
Jamaica
Haiti
Cuban province of Camaguey
Turks and Caicos Islands
Updated at 6.43am GMT
6.26am GMT
Jamaican officials to assess damages on Wednesday
As Cuba prepares for the storm to make landfall any minute, officials in Jamaica are preparing to assess the damage on Wednesday.
A video shared by the Jamaican Constabulary Force shows officers surveying extensive destruction in Black River, close to where Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Tuesday as a Category 5 storm.
The footage showed downed power lines, piles of debris and vehicles sitting in muddy water.
Extensive damage was reported in parts of Clarendon in southern Jamaica and in the southwestern parish of St. Elizabeth, which was “under water,” said Desmond McKenzie, deputy chair of Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Council.
The storm also damaged four hospitals and left one without power, forcing officials to evacuate 75 patients, McKenzie said.
More than half a million customers were without power as of late Tuesday as officials reported that most of the island experienced downed trees, power lines and extensive flooding.
Internet connectivity in Jamaica dropped to a low of 42% of normal levels, according to internet monitoring organisation NetBlocks.
The storm’s heavy winds caused widespread damage to power and communications infrastructure, cutting off many parts of the country, NetBlocks said.
The government said it hopes to reopen all of Jamaica’s airports as early as Thursday to ensure the quick distribution of emergency relief supplies.
The storm already was blamed for seven deaths in the Caribbean, including three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.
Updated at 8.10am GMT
6.13am GMT
Hurricane Melissa downgraded to category 3, still 'extremely dangerous' as it approaches Cuba
The National Hurricane Center has, once again, downgraded Melissa to “a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale,” but said it is still “an extremely dangerous major hurricane.”
The centre warned the hurricane could “cause life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flash flooding with numerous landslides” as it approaches Cuba.
For eastern Cuba, total rainfall of 10 to 20 inches is expected through today, with local amounts of 25 inches expected over mountainous terrain.
Updated at 7.02am GMT
6.06am GMT
NHC confirms Hurricane Melissa expected to make landfall in Cuba soon
Hurricane Melissa will make landfall in Cuba “soon”, according to the latest 2am ET public advisory from the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
The NHC said:
Melissa is expected to make landfall soon along the southern coast of eastern Cuba as an extremely dangerous major hurricane.
On the forecast track, the core of Melissa is expected to move over eastern Cuba through this morning, move across the southeastern or central Bahamas later today, and approach Bermuda Thursday and Thursday night.
Maximum sustained winds are near 125 mph (205 kph) with higher gusts.
5.56am GMT
Category 4 Melissa is forecast to make landfall in eastern Cuba early Wednesday morning.
Provinces from Guantánamo — in the far east — to Camagüey, almost in the center of elongated Cuba, had already suspended classes on Monday.
A storm surge of up to 12 feet (3.6m) in the region is expected to drop up to 20 inches (51cm) of rain in parts of eastern Cuba.
“Numerous landslides are likely in those areas,” said Michael Brennan, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The hurricane could worsen Cuba’s severe economic crisis, which already has led to prolonged power blackouts, fuel shortages and food shortages.
Updated at 6.06am GMT
5.46am GMT
Trump confirms US is prepared to aid Jamaica in Hurricane Melissa aftermath
The US president spoke to reporters on Air Force One, en route from Japan to South Korea:
We’re watching it closely, and we’re prepared to move.
I’ve never seen that before. I guess it can get that high, but I’ve never seen it.
Earlier, Jamaica prime minister Andrew Holness said he received a message from US secretary of state Marco Rubio. In a video interview with NBC’s Tom Llamas, Holness said:
Secretary of State and the President of the United States have always been good to us, and we’ve always been good and strong partners with the United States.
We’re confident that whatever assistance they can render, whatever assistance we deem necessary, there will be a great effort to have that fulfilled.
An official platform was launched by Jamaica’s government to “coordinate relief, mobilise support, and manage recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Melissa.”
Holness told Llamas the Jamaican government will commence other relief and recovery efforts as soon as it is safe enough to do so.
5.37am GMT
Cuba’s president has warned the country is in for a 'very difficult night'
Writing on X, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez said 735,000 people had so far been evacuated.
Earlier, in a televised address to the nation and wearing an olive-green uniform, Díaz-Canel urged the population to not underestimate the power of the storm, calling it “the strongest ever to hit national territory.”
He asked residents to avoid bathing in swollen rivers and urged them not to leave evacuation sites “until the order has been given.”
“There will be a lot of work to do. We know there will be a lot of damage.”
Updated at 5.46am GMT
5.28am GMT
Jamaican government downgrades warnings from hurricane to tropical storm
The National Hurricane Center’s (NHC) latest 11pm ET update said the government of Jamaica replaced the “Hurricane Warning” with a “Tropical Storm Warning.”
Damaging winds are forecast to gradually subside across Jamaica, but the NHC advised locals to “remain safe in shelter until sunrise.”
Rohan Brown, of Jamaica’s Meteorological Service, warned that as Melissa moves off the coast, its counterclockwise rotation would bring a heavy storm surge to northern Jamaica through the night.
Updated at 7.46am GMT
5.14am GMT
The most recent 11pm ET advisory from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned Melissa is “re-strengthening as it approaches eastern Cuba.”
The hurricane is expected to make landfall “as an extremely dangerous major hurricane in the next few hours,” it said.
“In the warning area in Cuba, residents should seek safe shelter immediately.”
The NHC has warned the Bahamas that “preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion.”
Though Melissa was briefly downgraded to a category 3 hurricane, it has officially bumped back up to a category 4, according to the NHC.
Hurricane warnings are in effect for:
Cuban provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Holguin, and Las Tunas
Southeastern and Central Bahamas
A hurricane watch, typically issued 48 hours before the anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds, is in effect for:
Bermuda
Tropical storm warnings are in effect for:
Jamaica
Haiti
Cuban province of Camaguey
Turks and Caicos Islands
We’ll bring you the latest NHC update when it launches in about an hour.
Updated at 6.42am GMT
5.11am GMT
If you are just joining us, here is a our full story on what has happened so far:
Related: ‘Storm of the century’: record-breaking Hurricane Melissa hits Jamaica
5.04am GMT
Welcome summary
Welcome to our live coverage of Hurricane Melissa as it travels through the Caribbean.
Melissa is heading for Cuba’s second-largest city, Santiago de Cuba, after making landfall in neighbouring Jamaica as the strongest cyclone on record to hit the Caribbean island nation.
The hurricane roared ashore near Jamaica’s south-western town of New Hope, packing sustained winds of up to 185mph (295km/h), according to the US National Hurricane Center, well above the minimum 157mph (252km/h) wind speed of a Category 5 storm, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.
In south-western Jamaica, the parish of St Elizabeth was left “underwater”, an official said, with more than 500,000 residents without power.
“The reports that we have had so far would include damage to hospitals, significant damage to residential property, housing and commercial property as well, and damage to our road infrastructure,” Jamaica’s prime minister, Andrew Holness, said on CNN after the storm had passed.
Melissa weakened to a Category 3 storm but has since strengthened to Category 4 as it neared the Cuban coast. Authorities there said they evacuated about 500,000 people from areas vulnerable to winds and flooding.
Here are the major developments:
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica’s on Tuesday as a category 5 hurricane. It is the strongest to lash the island since record-keeping began in 1851. The storm lost some power crossing Jamaica’s mountainous terrain, but remains a powerful Category 4 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The hurricane is now making a toward Cuba. It could make a second landfall there as early as midnight, bringing winds of between 140 and 145mph.
Cuba’s president warned citizens the storm could be “one of the most severe - or possibly the strongest” ever to hit the island. “We want to emphasise ... the magnitude of this event,” said Miguel Díaz-Canel, urging Cubans not to return to their homes from shelters.
Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Council, said the south-western parish of St Elizabeth “is under water” – and has sustained extensive damage.
Aid agencies and disaster relief charities are preparing to deploy. They will start operations across Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean at speed as soon as weather conditions improve enough to safely do so. The Red Cross has said it expects about 1.5 million people to be directly affected by the disaster, set to become the largest in Jamaica’s history.
The extraordinary intensification of Hurricane Melissa is likely to be a symptom of the rapid heating of the world’s oceans. Melissa is the fourth storm in the Atlantic this year to undergo rapid intensification of its wind speed and power. This sort of intensification has been linked to the human-caused climate crisis, which is causing oceans to become hotter.