The Category 5 storm is the most powerful in the Atlantic Ocean this year. The authorities in Jamaica and Cuba have issued evacuation orders for tens of thousands of people.

Melissa strengthened into a deadly Category 5 hurricane Monday with catastrophic impacts expected across the Caribbean, similar to Sarasota last year.

Article last updated: Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, 11 p.m. ET

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.

Melissa, a Category 5 storm, is expected to slam into the southern coast of Jamaica on Tuesday morning, Oct. 28, with catastrophic consequences. It's also set to approach Cuba as a major hurricane and cross the central and southeastern Bahamas,

The U.S. Navy relocated hundreds of nonessential personnel from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to Florida over the weekend.

The eye of Melissa is almost certain to make landfall on the south coast of Jamaica on Tuesday morning and pass over the north coast by Tuesday afternoon. While there is still a slight chance the center of the storm will slide around the island, forecasters say this will have little change in the overall threat.