Category 5 Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica, set to hit Haiti and Cuba
Melissa barrels into Jamaica as strongest hurricane on record; millions across the Caribbean brace for impact
Cuban leaders, including President Miguel Díaz-Canel, preside over a high-level meeting to prepare for the hurricane to hit the island. Photo: Presidencia Cuba
Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm, made landfall in Jamaica on the morning of October 28, strengthened by unusually warm waters in the Caribbean. Melissa’s wind speeds doubled in less than a day, and is set to be the most powerful hurricane on record to ever strike Jamaica.
Melissa is “rapidly becoming a textbook example of how climate change is making hurricanes more dangerous,” wrote climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe on X, citing the storm’s “explosive intensification, slow movement, and massive rainfall.”
Cuba has implemented strong evacuation measures, ordering 900,000 to evacuate to the island’s eastern provinces. By Tuesday morning, 424,669 Cubans had already evacuated, as compared to only about 6,000 Jamaicans that had entered the country’s shelters by that time.
“As part of the measures that have been taken, multiple brigades are already concentrated in the eastern region of the country to work on the recovery of the damages that the hurricane may cause,” said Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez in an address.
The last major Hurricane to hit Cuba was Rafael in November of 2024, which made landfall less than a month after a major energy crisis on the island caused by the US blockade against Cuba. As a result, the hurricane left millions without electricity on the island.
This year, the US blockade against Cuba will once again go to a vote in the United Nations. In previous years, the vast majority of member states in the United Nations have overwhelmingly opposed the blockade, which the US has chosen to ignore each year by continuing the policy.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in Haiti has exacerbated the concerns surrounding Melissa’s expected landfall. More than half of Haiti’s population is currently experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, nearly 6 million people.
Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti in 2016, resulting in a death toll of over 500 and leaving 1.4 million in need of immediate humanitarian aid.
“Children and families in Haiti are facing compounding crises,” said Lesly Michaud, Country Program Director of World Vision International Haiti in a statement. “We are committed to standing with communities through this storm and beyond, ensuring they receive the support they need to recover and rebuild.”
