(Bloomberg) — Hurricane Melissa has become the third Category 5 storm of the Atlantic season to top the charts in the Caribbean, where it is expected to make landfall in Jamaica early Tuesday morning.
Winds peaked at 257 kilometers per hour in Melissa and threatened to bring widespread destruction to the island as well as neighboring Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba, where it will make a second landfall on Wednesday. Damaging winds, damaging storm surge and catastrophic flooding are expected to worsen on Monday, the US National Hurricane Center said.
Melissa, currently about 130 miles south of Kingston, is forecast to drop up to 762 millimeters of rain across parts of Jamaica, and the hurricane center warned the torrent could trigger landslides. More than 800 shelters have been opened across the island and local authorities have deployed heavy equipment to remove debris from roadways.
Losses could reach $14 billion in Jamaica and $5 billion in Cuba, said Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler at Enki Research. Melissa’s total losses could climb even higher as it is expected to sweep through the southern Bahamas on Thursday and possibly even approach Bermuda.
Hurricanes Erin and Humberto also reached Category 5 strength in the Atlantic this year, though neither threatened land. Gabrielle has reached Category 4 strength, meaning four storms will become major hurricanes across the Atlantic in 2025, which usually produces only three by the end of October. The six-month season officially ends on November 30, but storms historically form in every month of the year.
Hurricane warnings have been issued for four provinces in Cuba, where Melissa is forecast to make landfall after devastating Jamaica. Companies evacuated workers and the US Navy pulled non-essential personnel from its base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Melissa’s slow passage through the region worsens flooding as its heaviest rains will last for days. In a warmer world due to climate change, the atmosphere holds more water, exacerbating heavy rains from tropical systems.
Hurricane Melissa has the power to level homes, snap trees and cause power outages that can last for weeks or months. It can also push a wall of water up to 13 feet into the coast where it comes ashore. About half of all hurricane deaths are from drowning.
A hurricane watch is in effect for the southeastern and central Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Flooding is also forecast in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
After passing through Jamaica and Cuba, the storm is forecast to move into the Bahamas. There is a chance it could threaten Bermuda later in the week.
The only other time more than two Category 5 hurricanes formed in the Atlantic was 2005, which produced four — including Katrina, which devastated New Orleans, Phil Klotzbach, a storm researcher at Colorado State University, said in an X paper.
(Update with storm details and warnings from paragraph three.)
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