Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness urged residents to prepare to evacuate flood-prone areas: “You have been given enough notice that this weather event is coming, and it could be disastrous. Take all measures to protect yourself.”
A drone video from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, showed cars navigating flooded streets as heavy rain from Tropical Storm Melissa inundated the region.
Hurricane Melissa: Record-Breaking Hurricane Season
Hurricane Melissa is the fifth hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season, joining Erin, Gabrielle, Humberto, and Imelda. If Melissa strengthens to Category 4, it will mark the fourth storm this year to reach that intensity. According to Colorado State University researcher Phil Klotzbach, this has only happened three other times on record — in 1932, 1999, and 2010.
Historical data from the Jamaican government shows that hurricanes strike the island roughly once every 10 to 11 years. The strongest to hit in modern times, Hurricane Gilbert (1988), made landfall as a Category 3. With Hurricane Melissa threatening to exceed that intensity, meteorologists warn Jamaica could face one of its worst natural disasters in decades.
