Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a destructive Category 5 storm. The storm made landfall near New Hope, Jamaica, at 1 p.m. EDT Tuesday with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph. “It was the first time an Atlantic storm made landfall as a Category 5 since Hurricane Dorian in 2019,” AccuWeather stated. Melissa rapidly developed into a Category 5 storm in the Caribbean over the weekend. Category 5 Hurricane Rapidly Develops In The Caribbean, Jamaica Prepares For Destructive Impact AccuWeather shared: At least seven fatalities have already been reported across the Caribbean due to the monstrous hurricane, which has been slowly tracking near Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica for days. The death toll is likely to rise as Melissa slices across Jamaica, eastern Cuba and the Bahamas. “There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said, according to The Associated Press. “The question now is the speed of recovery. That’s the challenge.” "People in Jamaica have not experienced a direct strike from a major hurricane in nearly 40 years," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said. "Hurricane Gilbert made landfall in 1988 as a Category 3 storm, moving much faster than Melissa." Conditions deteriorated across Jamaica on Monday and Monday night as Melissa approached, with mandatory evacuations issued in areas where the worst of the flooding and storm surge were expected. Storm Chaser Brandon Clement is in Jamaica and warned that a humanitarian crisis may unfold in the wake of Melissa due to the expected widespread devastation. "It's going to take months for things to even begin to resemble normalcy after this," Clement told AccuWeather in an interview. "It's just a really bad situation." Tropical Cowboy of Danger posted footage of a flight into Hurricane Melissa. "A thread of videos from today’s flight into Hurricane Melissa," the account stated. "In this first one we are entering from the southeast just after sunrise and the bright arc on the far northwest eye wall is the light just beginning to make it over the top from behind us," it continued. A thread of videos from today’s flight into Hurricane Melissa In this first one we are entering from the southeast just after sunrise and the bright arc on the far northwest eye wall is the light just beginning to make it over the top from behind us. pic.twitter.com/qGdpp7lbCN — Tropical Cowboy of Danger (@FlynonymousWX) October 27, 2025 "Second pass through Hurricane Melissa entering from the southwest side. Passed NOAA in the eye wall as they headed outbound for home. Obviously a very powerful storm but a relatively straightforward one on this flight. Much less nasty meso activity than 36 hours ago," the thread continued. "Third pass through Melissa. GoPro in side window as different camera looking forward shooting in ultra high res 8k. Not sure when that might get processed as the file turned out ridiculous. Barely had HD space for it and MacBook Pro promptly chocked when I tried to edit it," it added. Third pass through Melissa. GoPro in side window as different camera looking forward shooting in ultra high res 8k. Not sure when that might get processed as the file turned out ridiculous. Barely had HD space for it and MacBook Pro promptly chocked when I tried to edit it pic.twitter.com/3p430gPvZv — Tropical Cowboy of Danger (@FlynonymousWX) October 27, 2025 "Fourth pass through Melissa this morning, another side view due to my hairbrained attempt to shoot 8k video out the front," the thread continued. "Fifth and final pass through Hurricane Melissa for our crew today. Just after noon entering from the NW corner exiting SE," it added. Fifth and final pass through Hurricane Melissa for our crew today. Just after noon entering from the NW corner exiting SE. pic.twitter.com/BVtyIlZpsx — Tropical Cowboy of Danger (@FlynonymousWX) October 27, 2025 The Weather Channel noted: Hurricane Melissa's eye is now approaching the northern coast of Jamaica as a Category 4 hurricane. Weakening has begun due to interaction with the mountains of Jamaica, but the danger on the island is far from over. With hurricane-force winds extending up to 30 miles from the center, that means its eyewall with the most intense winds are in central and western Jamaica. Winds will gradually come down in the coming hours across Jamaica, but flooding could last for days. The National Hurricane Center is warning that up to 40 inches of rain could fall in southern Hispaniola and Jamaica through Wednesday. That torrential rainfall is likely to trigger catastrophic, life-threatening flash flooding and landslides in Jamaica and Haiti, especially in hilly and mountainous terrain, according to the National Hurricane Center. Catastrophic hurricane conditions are pushing across western and central Jamaica. The NHC also says winds could be up to 30 percent stronger along the windward slopes of mountains and hills. These winds are capable of "extensive infrastructural damage" including "total structural failure" as well as "long-lasting power and communication outages" that could leave communities isolated, according to the NHC. Even after hurricane-force winds move out of Jamaica, tropical storm conditions could last into Tuesday night. Watch additional coverage below: