# Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean (10/2025) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 25, 2025, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289 "2025-10-25T23:22:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2025, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/21 "2025-10-28T01:56:17Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I sure hope nobody here is in the path, I was on the phone with one of our IT people today. Though he lives in Seattle, he is from Jamaica. He’s a little worried about his house back there. I hope his house survives. (And everyone who lives in Jamaica, too.) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2025, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/22 "2025-10-28T02:00:42Z")
Here’s a live webcam from Kingston, which is on the southern side of the island. > **[🟢 Devon House Kingston LIVE 24/7 – Jamaica Stoplight Cam 🇯🇲](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6oDQm5XQwQ%2F)** > > Watch Devon House Kingston LIVE 24/7 and see one of Jamaica’s most iconic landmarks in real time. Located at the intersection of Hope Road and Waterloo Road,... ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2025, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/23 "2025-10-28T02:05:04Z")
And another from a less prosperous neighborhood. I looked for webcams from Ocho Rios and Montego Bay, which are both on the north side, and didn’t find any, not yet anyway. > **[Live: Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica with catastrophic flooding...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqAQeWHIgi4%2F)** > > Hurricane Melissa rapidly strengthened into a major Category 3 hurricane as it unleashed torrential rain in the northern Caribbean and threatened catastrophi... ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/24 "2025-10-28T15:12:26Z")
I keep looking in on those two video feeds and so far, everything has been really mild? Medium rain, light wind. I would have expected things to have been bad by now. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2025, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/25 "2025-10-28T17:19:09Z")
I have used this site for first person reports: > **[Caribbean Hurricane Network - stormCARIB.com - local updates from the islands](https://stormcarib.com/)** > > stormCARIB presents in depth information, weather discussions and local reports regarding tropical storms and hurricanes threatening the Caribbean islands. Special local hurricane correspondents are standing by on the islands and will provide timely... Brian ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/26 "2025-10-28T17:51:39Z")
It hit around 1 PM EST (noon Carribbean time) today > Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Tuesday afternoon as a powerful Category 5 storm, with sustained winds of 185 m.p.h. > > Melissa is the strongest hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season to date — and has now become the most powerful to strike Jamaica since tropical records began for the Atlantic basin. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2025, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/27 "2025-10-28T18:47:26Z")
It looks like the worst of it missed Kingston. I just checked out the webcams that I posted above, and while I was watching, someone wiped off the lens. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2025, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/28 "2025-10-28T18:58:34Z")
Yeah, Kingston always looked pretty calm every time I looked. It was getting pretty rough on the other one (wherever it is) the last time I saw it, but now that feed is down, with a message that further live video is expected. (ETA and now it is back up, and calmer there.) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2025, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/29 "2025-10-28T23:25:44Z")
Thanks for the link. There’s no substitute for news from someone who’s right there. 896 millibars is 26.45 inches of mercury. That is some VERY low air pressure. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2025, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/30 "2025-10-29T22:43:48Z")
If you’re interested in donating, I would recommend Doctors Without Borders or World Central Kitchen for immediate assistance, and Habitat for Humanity for long-term aid. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2025, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/31 "2025-10-31T22:28:09Z")
Here is a look at a small town on the coast, Black River. Surprising there were relatively few deaths (50 total so far in Jamaica and Haiti) > **[Black River, Jamaica in the Aftermath of Hurricane Melissa: Devastation and...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0f2Pzjd9zo%2F)** > > In the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, the town of Black River, Jamaica has been left in crisis. The storm — one of the most destructive to hit the island in... > **[Despair spreads across historic seaport in Jamaica that Hurricane Melissa...](https://apnews.com/article/hurricane-melissa-jamaica-haiti-cuba-killed-black-river-a65ece21d7c68d93086634bea1d28c61)** > > Hurricane Melissa made landfall in southwest Jamaica this week near the coastal town of Black River, which the government has described as “ground zero.” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2025, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/32 "2025-10-31T23:29:19Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Surprising there were relatively few deaths (50 total so far in Jamaica and Haiti) Yeah, with Melissa being hyped as one of the worst storms ever I was expecting hundreds. That’s a lot fewer deaths than the US South got _after_ Helene had degraded to a tropical storm. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2025, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/33 "2025-10-31T23:31:53Z")
I will say that there may be places with sizable death tolls that we don’t know about, because nobody can get in or out. I kind of figured that the whole island was going to look like central Joplin after the 2011 tornado, and thankfully, it doesn’t. There was also a lot of concern about the Kingston airport, and when I looked at a map, it was really obvious why. That airport appears to have been built on a sandbar, with the runway on an artificial peninsula. Thankfully, it has reopened. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2025, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/34 "2025-11-01T00:30:47Z")
Getting the airport reopened was probably priority one, for obvious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2025, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/35 "2025-11-01T02:03:36Z")
A problem with emphasizing peak wind speed is that with Mellisa the Cat 1 hurricane is 100 miles across, the surrounding tropical storm is 250 miles across, and the majorly deathly destructive Cat 4/5 core zone is 20 miles across. Landfall of the center was far enough from Kingston & Manley International Airport that they only experienced a strong tropical storm. Meanwhile Black River was devastated and the storm carved a 20-mile wide swath of abject wreckage acoss the island towards the northeast. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2025, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/36 "2025-11-01T02:13:54Z")
So basically a 20-mile-wide tornado ran over Jamaica, with torrential rain as a bonus. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2025, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/37 "2025-11-01T02:28:15Z")
Could say that. That overpowered core entered over the west part of Jamaica and crossed the island along the “short” axis so Kingston and points east got “normal” hurricane/TS conditions which is no picnic but the islands are usually prepared to battle through. Contrast Maria which crossed Puerto Rico diagonally along the “long” axis so a greater portion experienced core or near-core conditions. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2025, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/38 "2025-11-01T03:50:15Z")
Yep. With _widespread_ torrential rain and hence widespread flooding. Plus widespread winds sufficient to cause nuisance damage to well-built stuff and large amounts of medium damage to flimsy stuff. In a country whose infrastructure is flimsy and held together with bailing wire and chewing gum that can lead to an awful lot of e.g. utility wire pole damage everywhere that will take years to fully repair. Had the 20 mile core-of-doom gone right over the capital & airport & other key national infrastructure, then the recovery time and cost would have been vastly larger. As would have been the death toll. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2025, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/39 "2025-11-01T05:30:32Z")
Realizing that most hurricanes fit this kind of description was quite a surprise for me. In many cases, the most destructive part is the storm surge, and I’m not hearing much about it with this storm (yet). That was DEFINITELY why Sandy was so disastrous, even though the winds were no longer hurricane-force when it struck the NYC area. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2025, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289/40 "2025-11-01T19:17:12Z")
p.s. I remember reading in “The Perfect Storm” that a hurricane/cyclone/typhoon could take up a million cubic miles of atmosphere. That’s stuck with me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricane-melissa-in-the-caribbean-10-2025/1024289.md?page=1)