Hurricane Melissa is one of the strongest storms in Atlantic history

Since Tuesday, the eyes of the world have been fixed on the Caribbean Sea, where the destructive Hurricane Melissa has been moving across island nations. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), it is the strongest tropical cyclone of the year, with wind speeds reaching nearly 300 km/h. The storm caused the most severe damage in Jamaica, but other islands were also affected.

Slow movement of the cyclone

As early as last week, global meteorological agencies warned about the threat posed by a cyclone forming over the Atlantic. On October 23, 2025, experts from the Meteorological Service Jamaica issued a statement about a storm located 280 km off the island’s eastern coast, moving at an exceptionally slow pace of 4 km/h. At that time, winds in the observed low-pressure system reached only 75 km/h.
It was precisely the slow movement of Hurricane Melissa that became the main cause for concern. Meteorologists recalled the story of the equally slow-moving Hurricane Harvey, which flooded Texas in August 2017 and caused the deaths of more than 100 people. As Jonathan Belles, meteorologist for Weather.com, explains, the slower a storm moves, the heavier rainfall it brings.

Disaster in Jamaica

Warnings about the strengthening storm came true. On Tuesday, Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica as a Category 5 cyclone on the Saffir–Simpson scale. It was accompanied by winds of 295 km/h, a four-meter storm surge, and intense rainfall.

Fifteen thousand Jamaican citizens were evacuated to shelters, and some families were trapped in flooded homes. All flights were canceled, and international tourists, including Poles, remained in their hotels.
Witnesses spoke of roofs torn from buildings and coastlines disappearing under water. Hundreds of thousands of citizens remain without electricity, more than 70 percent of water systems are damaged, and streets are blocked by broken structures and abandoned cars. The hospital in Black River was destroyed, and its 75 patients were evacuated.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared a state of emergency for the entire island. The full scale of the damage is still difficult to assess due to limited access to flooded areas. The reports coming from Jamaicans in the media are terrifying.

“It was something catastrophic, we are all out on the street,” said one resident of the town of Liliput in an interview with the Dominican TV station Noticias SIN. “We can say that our houses have fallen apart. We have nothing.”

Hurricane Melissa weakens but does not give up

On Tuesday night, the cyclone weakened briefly, then regained strength and struck the coast of Cuba as a Category 3 storm. More than 140,000 people were cut off by overflowing rivers, and serious infrastructure damage occurred.

Early this morning, Hurricane Melissa, now a Category 1 storm, passed over the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The NOAA National Hurricane Center warns residents of high storm surges, heavy rainfall, and winds gusting up to 150 km/h. By evening, the storm, once again strengthening, is expected to reach Bermuda—severe weather conditions are forecast throughout the night.

So far, media reports indicate dozens of fatalities across the Caribbean region, including five in Jamaica alone. In Haiti, at least 25 people died in floods caused by the rising Petit-Goâve River, and 18 remain missing.

Both the United States and the United Kingdom have already pledged aid to the Caribbean countries affected by the hurricane. Analysts agree, however, that rebuilding the devastation will be difficult and long-lasting.

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main photo credit: Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (CSU/CIRA & NOAA)