Tourists trapped in Jamaica have been left in fear for their lives as the island braces itself for the world’s most powerful storm this year with forecasters expecting it to unleash catastrophic flooding, deadly landslides and 175mph winds.
Hurricane Melissa intensified to a Category 5 – the maximum strength – on Monday and has already begun lashing the coast with ‘life-threatening hurricane-force winds’ and damaging waves.
Deadly Melissa is expected to bring 40 inches of rain in parts of Jamaica over the next four days, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), as resorts and hotels across the island prepare to take on the brutal force of the tropical storm.
Now, as the hurricane hurtles closer, holidaymakers in Jamaica have been sharing updates on social media as they scramble for safety before Melissa makes its devastating landfall.
One tourist said she was ‘really scared’ and ‘praying for the whole of Jamaica’, while another revealed many were left feeling ‘anxious’ as they wait for in anticipation for the storm to hit.
Hotel staff across the island have been boarding up doors with wooden planks, taping windows, removing lights and clearing out pools as they attempt to limit the destruction Hurricane Melissa threatens to bring later today.
Resort restaurants and beaches have been completely shut off to the public, with tourists being moved from their ground floor rooms to ones higher up and further away from the ‘dark and angry’ sea.
Holidaymaker Rebecca Chatman told BBC Radio 4 this morning that she ‘doesn’t feel safe’ as she scrambled to take shelter with her children at their resort just 30 minutes from Montego Bay.
A British tourist trapped in Jamaica told her social media followers she was ‘really scared’ as her and her family wait for Hurricane Melissa to hit
Resorts across the island have begun boarding up doors and windows in preparation for the storm to hit
Light fixtures in buildings have been removed to prepare for the island’s worst ever storm
Hurricane Melissa reached Category 5 status on Monday. The National Hurricane Center predicts the storm will make landfall over Jamaica, home to nearly three million people
‘It never looked like a Caribbean sea, it seems very dark and angry, it’s very foreboding, there’s a weird rumbling noise coming from the horizon, it’s ominous, eerie, strange,’ she said.
Hanna Mcleod, a 23-year-old hotel receptionist in the Jamaican capital of Kingston, said she boarded up the windows at her home, where her husband and brother are staying.
She stocked up on canned corned beef and mackerel and left candles and flashlights throughout the house.
‘I just told them to keep the door closed,’ she said. ‘I am definitely worried. This is actually the first time I’ll be experiencing this type of hurricane.’
Now, fears are rising that a four-foot storm surge will leave a key Jamaican airport underwater, potentially leaving tourists stranded for even longer when the storm passes.
BBC science correspondent Thomas Moore explained the Norman Manley International Airport, which lies on the south coast of Jamaica, may be left flooded as the runway is just three metres above sea level.
‘If that is under a metre of water, even when the hurricane is gone, how quickly does that water dissipate? How quickly can they get aid flights, doctors, emergency teams on the ground who haven’t been able to get in since the airport closed over the weekend?,’ he said.
The storm, which has been blamed for three deaths in Jamaica, and four deaths in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, is worryingly travelling at a slow pace which is feared to lead to prolonged torrential rain in areas and widespread destruction.
The NHC has warned it could cause ‘catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides’ as well as ‘total structural failure’.
It also warned that failure to take immediate action may result in ‘serious injury or significant loss of life’.
The NHC said Melissa was currently about 140 miles south-west of the capital Kingston, with sustained winds of 175mph. It was moving ‘north-northeast’ at 2mph.
A house stands damaged by the preliminary winds of Hurricane Melissa at Hellshire Fishing Beach in Portmore, Jamaica, 27 October 2025
Hurricane Melissa will make landfall in Jamaica as the strongest hurricane to strike the island since Hurricane Gilbert in 1988
The government has urged extra caution in Jamaica’s ‘higher elevation areas’, where wind speeds could be as much as 30 per cent stronger, and has already ordered evacuations for parts of Kingston and vulnerable communities across the island.
NHC director Michael Brennan warned Jamaicans: ‘Do not venture outside with catastrophic life threatening flash flooding and numerous landslides expected through Tuesday.’
He advised not to ‘go out in the eye as it passes over your area. The forward speed of Melissa is going to increase and the eye is going to start to move very quickly across the island.’
Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in a post on X, urged ‘every Jamaican to prepare, stay indoors during the storm, and comply with evacuation orders’.
‘We will weather this storm and rebuild stronger,’ he wrote.
‘You have been warned. It’s now up to you to use that information to make the right decision,’ he said during a briefing, and told CNN, ‘I don’t believe there is any infrastructure within this region that could withstand a Category 5 storm, so there could be significant dislocation.’
He also told a news conference that he has ‘been on my knees in prayer’, adding that he had been in contact with world leaders.
‘It would appear the entire world is praying for Jamaica,’ he said.
Crews across the island are already working to restore power before Melissa makes landfall after Jamaica Public Service said more than 52,000 customers have been impacted by power outages.
‘We are working to connect the remaining customers, however, in some areas, heavy rain and difficult terrain are creating access challenges,’ it added.
‘The safety of our crews and the public is our top priority. We stand with you. Please stay safe and stay indoors.’
But regardless of warnings to seek shelter, some are insisting on staying in their flood-prone communities.
‘I hear what they say, but I am not leaving,’ said Noel Francis, a 64-year-old fisherman who lives on the beach in the southern town of Old Harbor Bay, where he was born and grew up. ‘I can manage myself.’
His neighbor, Bruce Dawkins, said he also had no plans to leave his home.
After making landfall in Jamaica, the hurricane is expected to continue northwards towards eastern Cuba and across the southeastern or central Bahamas.
The Bahamas will experience hurricane conditions on Wednesday, with tropical storm conditions in the Turks and Caicos Islands on Wednesday.
At least three people are already known to have died and hundreds of homes have been flooded in Haiti as Melissa brought torrential rainfall to the island of Hispaniola.
In the Dominican Republic, located on the eastern side of Hispaniola, one person also died.
Local media identified the victim as a 79-year-old man who had been swept away by floodwaters in the capital, Santo Domingo.
A 13-year-old has also been reported missing after being dragged away by strong currents as he was swimming in the sea.
Several people were rescued after being trapped in their cars by the rising floodwater.
