The storm was positioned about 290 kilometres southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and 390 kilometres southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It had maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometres per hour and was moving northwest at only 6 kilometres per hour, according to the US National Hurricane Center. Its slow pace meant heavy rain could remain over the same areas for several days.
Forecasts called for as much as 64 centimetres of rain in parts of Jamaica, southern Haiti and the southern Dominican Republic through October 28. Haiti’s Tiburon Peninsula could receive up to 89 centimetres, an exceptional total that raised the risk of flash floods and slope failures. A hurricane watch and tropical-storm warning covered Jamaica and Haiti’s southwest peninsula. Forecasters expected Melissa to strengthen into a hurricane and potentially become a major hurricane before reaching Jamaica, then move toward eastern Cuba.
In Haiti, a landslide in Port-au-Prince killed two people and injured another. A falling tree had earlier killed an elderly man in the south, while flooding injured five people in the country’s central region. The United Nations prepared more than 100 emergency shelters in the south. The approaching storm posed an additional danger for families living in makeshift accommodation after gang violence forced them from their homes.
The Dominican Republic reported damage to nearly 200 homes. Disruption to water systems affected more than half a million customers, while trees and traffic lights were brought down and small landslides were recorded. More than two dozen communities were isolated by floodwater. Schools closed nationwide, and government offices shut in 12 provinces under alert. Officials said evacuations in designated areas were mandatory.
Jamaica activated more than 650 shelters and closed schools, health centres and government offices as preparations intensified. Residents secured windows, cleared gutters, charged devices and moved vehicles to higher ground. Officials warned that saturated soil from earlier rainfall increased the hazard and that the storm’s uncertain movement complicated planning.
Melissa’s combination of strengthening winds, extreme rainfall and very slow motion made water the most immediate threat. Emergency agencies across the region urged residents in flood-prone districts to relocate early and continue following official updates.
The forecast extended the emergency across several national jurisdictions, requiring each to prepare while the storm’s exact track and timing remained uncertain.
