Ports closed, people ordered to evacuate: Jamaica braces for its ‘worst-ever’ hurricane Melissa | Top points

Jamaica’s water and environment minister Matthew Samuda urged his country people on Monday to follow the evacuation orders and trust only official updates.

Hurricane Melissa strengthened into a powerful Category 5 storm on Monday (local time) as Jamaica braces to witness its potentially worst hurricane ever since record-keeping started in 1851.

A woman and a child stand along the Kingston waterfront as hurricane Melissa approaches, in Kingston, Jamaica on October 27, 2025. (REUTERS)

Melissa’s maximum sustained wind speed was 175 miles per hour (282 kilometers per hour), according to the US National Hurricane Center’s latest update issued at 5 pm on Monday (New York time), reported Bloomberg.

The hurricane is expected to bring catastrophic flooding, landslides, and widespread devastation and is expected to make landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday before moving toward Cuba and the Bahamas later in the day, reported news agency Associated Press. It has already been blamed for seven deaths in the northern Caribbean as it makes its way towards Jamaica, the report added.

Here are top updates on Hurricane Melissa-

• People in Jamaica have been ordered to evacuate flood-prone areas in the island nation and buses with buses deployed to carry people to safe shelter. However, several locals have insisted on staying.
• "Jamaicans on the whole aren't the type of people who would just get up and leave their home...They'd prefer to stay. And if a window blows out or something like that they can be there," news agency AFP quoted Jamal Peters, a 34-year-old front manager at a hotel in Port Royal, as saying.
• Jamaica’s water and environment minister Matthew Samuda urged his country people on Monday to follow the evacuation orders and trust only official updates. He also advised people to store clean water as some systems of the country’s National Water Commission have already been affected.
• Power outages have already affected nearly 50,000 people across western Jamaica due to the outer bands of hurricane Melissa, said Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Desmond McKenzie said in a televised address on Monday.
• The hurricane is certainly expected to bring with it massive storm and flooding starting Monday night (local time). If it maintains its strength, hurricane Mellisa would be the first Category 5 storm to ever hit the Caribbean island nation. Category 5 is the highest on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale.
• Principal Director of Jamaica’s meteorological service, Evan Thompson, said that Jamaica has not been hit by a category 4 storm ever since the record-keeping began 174 years ago. In 1988, hurricane Gilbert, a category 3 storm, had made landfall in Jamaica.
• In a video statement, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness urged Jamaicans to stay inside and remain within the safety of their homes. “Avoid unnecessary travel, strong winds, heavy rains, and flash floods can occur at any moment. Staying indoors is the safest option and reduces the burden on our security and emergency personnel,” he said.
• “I make a special appeal to our young people and heads of households: Hurricanes are serious, and we must respect the power of nature. Uncertainty can trigger fear and unsafe behavior, so we must support one another, remain calm, and follow safety protocols,” he added.
• Jamaica’s ports have been closed to shipping ahead of the hurricane, according to the national port authority. Also, two of the island’s international airports — Norman Manley International in Kingston and Sangster International in Montego Bay — stopped operations over the weekend, reported Jamaica’s state television.
• Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, said that Kingston’s coastline could face storm surges as high as 13 feet (4 meters), endangering key infrastructure such as the island’s main international airport and power facilities. “This can become a true humanitarian crisis very quickly, and there is likely going to be the need for a lot of international support,” AP quoted Porter as saying.

(With inputs from wires)