MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica — Local 10 News reporter Aaron Maybin is in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where Hurricane Melissa made landfall Tuesday as a catastrophic Category 5 storm.
After making landfall, Melissa restrengthened to a Category 4 and is expected to slice diagonally across the island, entering near St. Elizabeth parish in the south and exiting around St. Ann parish in the north, forecasters said. Shortly after, it is expected to hit Cuba.
Hours before the storm, the Jamaican government said it had done all it could to prepare as it warned of catastrophic damage.
“Montego Bay is as ready as Montego Bay can be,” Mayor Richard Vernon told Local 10 News Monday. “And ready means that our agencies, they are on standby, they are ready, they have mobilized their officers or equipment have been mobilized, and we have done preparation work leading up to this point in time.”
“We have clean drains,” the mayor continued. “We have done our shelter managers training. We actually did our shelter inspections in the June period -- that’s the start of the hurricane season. This is what we do every year, so we are as ready as we can be. We are just now in a wait and see.”
Melissa is the fifth most intense Atlantic basin hurricane on record by pressure and the strongest to make landfall since Hurricane Dorian in 2019, according to Local 10 hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry.
It is “a worst-case scenario unfolding for Jamaica,” he said.
Landslides, fallen trees and numerous power outages were reported ahead of the storm, with officials in Jamaica cautioning that the cleanup and damage assessment would be slow.
“Total structural failure is possible near the path of Melissa’s center,” the National Hurricane Center said.
“There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said. “The question now is the speed of recovery. That’s the challenge.”
In Montego Bay, residents described scenes of chaos as Melissa’s core moved over the island.
Shawn Robinson, who lives in Montego Bay and is riding out the storm while working at a local hotel, said he’s been checking on his family nonstop.
“I’m really nervous and worried for my family,” Robinson said. “I keep on calling like every two hours to check — is there any wind blowing, is there anything that is missing?”
The hotel where he works is relying on a generator to keep the lights on as winds roar outside.
Nathan Matthews, another Montego Bay resident, said he’s trying to stay calm.
“I really want the storm to come and get it over with,” he said. “I want to see what’s happening and get through it. And push to the next end.”
He added that neighbors are doing what they can to stay safe and that he is trying to motivate other residents and visitors.
“Stay in, hold it down and let’s get through this, come on,” Matthews said.
The National Hurricane Center warned that once the calm of the eye passes, conditions will rapidly deteriorate again.
The storm already was blamed for seven deaths in the Caribbean, including three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.
Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
