Hurricane Melissa Makes Landfall at Black River: Live Coverage as Category 4 Storm Strikes Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa has made landfall. The eye of the storm crossed the Jamaican coastline at Black River, St. Elizabeth, at approximately 2:14 AM on October 27, 2025.

Melissa made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and a central pressure of 944 mb. The storm had peaked as a Category 5 at 165 mph at sea on October 24, before its eye wall underwent a replacement cycle that reduced winds slightly — still catastrophic by any measure.

The storm’s approach was unusual. Melissa tracked around the western tip of Jamaica — battering the Negril coast, the Hanover shoreline, and the communities of Westmoreland as the eye wall passed to the north and west — before the system turned sharply south-east and bore down directly on Black River. Residents of the south coast had a narrower window of warning than initially anticipated as the storm’s turn arrived faster than the models projected.

The eye is now moving inland over St. Elizabeth. Radar shows extreme convection on the east side of the eye wall, where winds are most destructive as the storm moves south-east.

Storm surge of 3.5 to 4.5 metres is expected along the south coast between Black River and Savanna-la-Mar. Black River sits at near sea level; significant portions of the town are already under water according to reports received before communications were severed.

The B&G Waterloo Guest House, used as an emergency co-ordination point by parish officials, has lost contact with emergency services. Road links between Black River and Treasure Beach are severed. The Y-S Road and the A2 coastal highway are both reported impassable.

Power is out across all of western Jamaica. The Jamaica Public Service Company reports no estimated restoration time. Cell tower outages mean large sections of St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Hanover, and St. James are without mobile communications.

Shelters in concrete government buildings across St. Elizabeth are at or near capacity. ODPEM is unable to deploy field teams until sustained winds drop below 45 mph.

At sea, the storm has generated significant wave heights of 8 to 10 metres in the western Caribbean. The Pedro Cays, located 75 kilometres south of the mainland, took a direct hit from Melissa’s outer bands overnight.

This is a catastrophic event. Communications will be limited in the coming hours as the eye wall continues to move inland. Jamaica Homes will continue to update this live page as information becomes available from official sources, emergency services, and verified community reports.

Last updated: 3:20 AM, October 27, 2025.

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