Many prayers and positive thoughts going from Puerto Rico to Jamaica, Cuba, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos… Alex Harris (Miami Herald/TNS) writes about Hurricane Melissa’s course towards Jamaica, saying that “Portions of the island have already been doused with more than a foot of rain during the storm’s approach.” Here’s are excerpts from his article from the Tampa Bay Times.
Hurricane Melissa — now a deadly Category 5 storm — is winding up to strike Jamaica with what could be the strongest winds ever recorded on the Caribbean island.
As of 8 a.m. Monday, the National Hurricane Center found the hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 160 mph. And it forecasts the storm to strengthen even more over the record-warm waters of the Caribbean before it makes landfall in Jamaica, with winds potentially reaching 165 mph.
While Jamaica has been battered by hurricanes for centuries, it has never seen direct landfall of a Category 4 hurricane, much less a Category 5, said Evan Thompson, the chief meteorologist of Meteorological Service of Jamaica. [. . .]
Portions of the island have already been doused with more than a foot of rain during Melissa’s approach, and forecasters said up to 30 more inches could be on the way. That’s on top of storm surge, which is expected to reach 9 to 13 feet above land, particularly on Jamaica’s southeast coast.
The damage from Melissa’s strong winds and deep pockets of flooding rain will be worsened by the storm’s incredibly slow speed. On Monday morning, the monster storm was crawling forward at only 3 mph. [. . .]
For original article, see the https://www.tampabay.com/hurricane/2025/10/27/hurricane-melissa-jamaica-haiti-caribbean-forecast-track/
[Photo above by Ricardo Hernández/AP: People abandon a car on an impassable street flooded by rains caused by then-Tropical Storm Melissa in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Friday. Melissa — now a deadly Category 5 hurricane — is winding up to strike Jamaica with what could be the strongest winds ever recorded on the Caribbean island.]
Many prayers and positive thoughts going from Puerto Rico to Jamaica, Cuba, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos… Alex Harris (Miami Herald/TNS) writes about Hurricane Melissa’s course towards Jamaica, saying that “Portions of the island have already been doused with more than a foot of rain during the storm’s approach.” Here’s are excerpts from his article
