Hurricane Melissa strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane early Monday morning, with winds eclipsing 165 mph. The storm is barreling toward Jamaica and expected to devastate the country’s southern coast with up to 40 inches of rain and 13 feet of storm surge. Melissa could potentially become the worst hurricane in Jamaica’s recorded history. “Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for vulnerable coastal areas of Jamaica,” CNN noted. The country has also evacuated parts of the capital, closed airports, and opened hundreds of shelters. The storm has already caused three deaths in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic. Hurricane Melissa, now a Category 5 storm, is bearing down on Jamaica with up to 40 inches (101.6 cm) of rain and 160 mph (260 km/h) winds, threatening catastrophic flooding and upheaval for hundreds of thousands. Kingston, Port Royal, Clarendon (Portland Cottage, Rocky Point),… pic.twitter.com/kdYjQjYgag — GeoTechWar (@geotechwar) October 27, 2025 USA TODAY has more: Melissa, now a Category 5 storm, was expected to slam into the southern coast of Jamaica on Tuesday, Oct. 28, before approaching Cuba as a major hurricane and crossing the Bahamas, forecasters said. Melissa poses no threat to the United States. The storm was centered about 145 miles south-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, as of 11 a.m. ET, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 165 mph and was moving west at a sluggish 3 mph. Fueled by the warm waters of the Caribbean, the storm underwent explosive growth over the weekend, its wind speed doubling from 70 mph to over 140 mph. Melissa is expected to intensify further as it approaches Jamaica, forecasters said. The storm could drop 30 inches of rain over Jamaica – an amount Dana Morris Dixon, the country’s information minister, said “we’ve never heard before.” On the coast, Melissa could kick up storm surge over 10 feet, forecasters said, warning of “catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding.” The strongest hurricane on record to make landfall over Jamaica was Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, a Category 4 hurricane, with sustained winds of 130 mph. As of Monday morning, Melissa was classified as a Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 160 mph. https://t.co/RCM4Nem1D8 pic.twitter.com/koEd2ALUCm — ABC News (@ABC) October 27, 2025 CBS News shared: As of 11 a.m. ET, Melissa was packing winds of 165 mph. Hurricanes reach Category 5 — the top of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale — when their winds hit 157 mph. Hurricane Melissa, the 13th named storm of the Atlantic season, isn’t expected to have major impacts on the mainland United States, but it’s turning into the strongest Atlantic system this season. In the hurricane center’s 11 a.m. ET update, Melissa’s center was about 145 miles southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 330 miles southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba. Maximum sustained winds had strengthened to 165 mph, with hurricane-force winds extending some 30 miles from the storm’s center and tropical storm-force winds extending 195 miles. It was crawling west at 3 mph. Watch additional coverage below: