Name: Hurricane Melissa to bring dangerous flooding, storm surge to Jamaica
Uploaded: 2025-10-28T14:08:47.563Z
Duration: 3 min 21 s
Description: Hurricane Melissa is a Category 5 storm as it descends upon Jamaica, expected to make landfall Tuesday. The powerful storm is expected to bring dangerous flooding and storm surge projected to reach 13 feet high.

Hurricane Melissa is a Category 5 storm as it descends upon Jamaica, expected to make landfall Tuesday. The powerful storm is expected to bring dangerous flooding and storm surge projected to reach 13 feet high.

Kingston

Hurricane Melissa, classified as a Category 5 storm, has made landfall in Jamaica, bringing winds of up to 175 miles per hour—the strongest ever recorded on the island. The storm has caused widespread flooding, storm surges up to 13 feet, and forced mandatory evacuations, with hundreds seeking shelter.

Jamaica's capital, Kingston, is experiencing increasing wind and rain, with power outages expected as conditions worsen. At least three deaths have been reported in Jamaica due to storm preparations, and the hurricane has already caused fatalities in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Airports have closed, leaving many travelers stranded as authorities warn of further damage and disruption.

Hurricane Melissa to bring dangerous flooding, storm surge to Jamaica

We're going to begin, though, with the breaking news, with Hurricane Melissa slamming Jamaica. She is no joke, this one. It's a Category 5, the strongest storm ever known to hit the island, with winds of up to 175 miles an hour. Wow. Jason Allen is in Jamaica's capital. That's Kingston, where the worst may be yet to come. Jason, good morning to you. It seems Melissa, she ain't playing. What are you seeing there? No, she absolutely is not, Gail. And the city of Kingston is starting to experience what's a tropical storm strength part of Melissa. So the winds have really picked up in the last few hours. We're kind of in a protected area right here. We have rain that is starting to come down all across the city. We have been watching right now, kind of waiting for that next burst of wind that is going to knock out the power here. It has been flashing, but it has stayed on at least to this point. Flooding has been ongoing. We already saw it in the overnight hours yesterday, and these are neighborhoods that flood just with regular rain. People are very concerned about how well they are going to withstand the foot of rain or more that comes from Melissa. And remember, this storm is still offshore. It's going to be a couple hours yet until it even makes landfall. Pretty gusty, pretty windy. Jamaica's shoreline is being overwhelmed with winds gusting more than 60 miles per hour, dangerous flooding, and storm surge projected up to 13 feet as Hurricane Melissa thrashes the island. Inside the storm Monday, hurricane hunters from NOAA were forced to abort their data-collecting mission because of severe turbulence. This video shows what crews were able to capture before the scrapped flight. On the ground, mandatory evacuations forced hundreds into shelters. The roughly 1 million residents of Jamaica's capital, Kingston, are still on the outskirts of Hurricane Melissa's reach. We're all buttoned down and locked up. The thing that concerns us the most, it's mostly just the wind and the rain. Those dangerous conditions closed Jamaica's airports when Melissa was approaching, leaving many vacationers stranded until the historic storm passes through the Caribbean. We're trying to be as prepared as we can. Bridget and Wayne Todd are in Jamaica on their honeymoon. The North Carolina couple has experienced hurricanes in the U.S. before, but say those are no match for Melissa. We've never had one to this level. My biggest concern is really just the damage it'll do afterwards and us being stranded out here for possible weeks. You know, this storm has already been deadly, too. At least four people died when it rolled past Haiti and the Dominican Republic. And already the minister of health here yesterday was saying that they know of three deaths here in Jamaica. And that was just with people preparing before the storm. And most of those deaths coming from cutting trees. And there were also injuries from people falling off of roofs as they tried to patch things up. And, you know, we can kind of give you a sense, too, of how quickly the water has been coming up in some locations. We've got a shot of a bridge that is near Kingston last night at 6 o'clock. And we can show you what it looks like now. The water is coming up things underwater. And I know that there are a lot of areas across the city where they're very concerned that this is going to be repeated throughout the day today. All right, Jason Allen in Jamaica, thank you.

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