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Category 5 Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica
Hurricane Melissa is touching down in Jamaica as a category 5 hurricane. Fox 5's Guy Lambert and Cesar Cornejo break down its path.
WASHINGTON - Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica early Tuesday afternoon, but the storm has already been deadly.
Hurricane Melissa made landfall around 1 p.m. Eastern, near New Hope, Jamaica, on the southern side of the island — with maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour.
Roads are flooded and impassable, and power is out for thousands of people.
The airports shut down on Saturday — and it’s not clear when they’ll reopen for commercial flights.
To give you an idea of how strong this storm is — it even forced the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters to turn back because of extreme turbulence in the Category 5 storm’s eyewall.
The last major hurricane to hit Jamaica was back in 1988 — killing 45 people and leveling dozens of buildings.
As of right now, Melissa is already responsible for at least seven deaths — three in Jamaica during storm preparations, three in Haiti, and one in the Dominican Republic.
How to help
The Embassy of Jamaica is accepting donations for Hurricane Melissa disaster relief. Visit the website for the Office of Disaster Preparedness Emergency-Donation for more information.
Project HOPE is preparing to deploy an emergency response team. Donate to their efforts here.