The storm is expected to bring destructive winds and life-threatening and catastrophic flooding and landslides to Jamaica, forecasters say.

Hurricane Melissa, an intense Category 5 storm, threatened to bring catastrophic winds, heavy rainfall, flash floods and landslides as it tracked through the northern Caribbean and neared landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday. Melissa was then forecast to cross Cuba and the Bahamas through Wednesday.

Hurricane Melissa is set to bring catastrophic winds, flooding and storm surge to Jamaica, forecasters have warned.

Hurricane Melissa, now a powerful Category 5 storm, is bearing down on Jamaica and is forecast to be the worst storm in the island's history.Melissa will likely remain at Category 5 strength by the time it makes landfall in Jamaica midday or early afternoon Tuesday.

Will Hurricane Melissa affect the United States? The Category 5 storm grew to immense strength as it approached Jamaica, but what do we know of its future path?

Hurricane Melissa has strengthened into a Category 5 storm and is forecast to bring destructive winds and storm surge and "catastrophic flooding" to Jamaica through the day, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Jamaica is expected to be in the storm's eyewall, which refers to the band of dense clouds surrounding the eye of the hurricane. The eyewall generally produces the fiercest winds and heaviest rainfall, according to Deanna Hence, a professor of climate, meteorology and atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

UNICEF is supporting emergency preparedness efforts as the strongest storm of the 2025 hurricane season approaches landfall.