Hurricane Melissa is on track to pass through the southeastern islands of the Bahamas, which are sparsely populated compared to the islands in the north of the archipelago. The two islands that are in the storm’s direct path, Crooked Island and Long Island, have a total population of just a few thousand people.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Cuba overnight after battering Jamaica as one of the most powerful landfalling storms in Atlantic basin history.

By Dave Sherwood PORT-AU-PRINCE/KINGSTON/HAVANA (Reuters) -Hurricane Melissa's confirmed death toll climbed to 44 on Thursday, according to official reports, after wreaking destruction across much of the northern Caribbean and picking up speed as it headed toward Bermuda.

Hurricane Melissa weakened to a Category 1 storm as it begins to batter Bahamas after pummeling Cuba and Jamaica. Follow DW for more.

According to the NHC, the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, developed in 1971 by civil engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist Robert Homer Simpson, is a rating of 1 to 5 based on a hurricane's sustained wind speed and its potential for significant loss of life and damage.

Hurricane Melissa on Monday became the third Category 5 Atlantic hurricane in 2025, and all of them surged up within days/ Why is this happening?