Hurricane Melissa Makes Historic Category 5 Landfall in Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in western Jamaica on Oct. 28 as a historic Category 5 storm, packing maximum sustained winds near 185 miles per hour and producing catastrophic storm surge, flooding and wind damage across Jamaica before moving on toward Cuba and the Bahamas. The slow moving, powerful cyclone has left large areas of Jamaica, parts of Cuba and sections of Hispaniola with widespread destruction, downed power and communications, and communities cut off by floodwaters and landslides.

Officials and international agencies described the damage in Jamaica as unprecedented, with significant destruction reported in western parishes including St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland. Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the government declared a disaster area and that essential facilities and infrastructure suffered heavy damage. Local authorities reported thousands sheltering, major hospital damage in some areas and extensive outages of electricity and telecommunications. One U.N. official said the grid is down across a substantial part of the country and that “I do not think there is a single soul on the island who has not been affected by Hurricane Melissa,” describing damage to...