Hours from landfall, Hurricane Melissa is also slow moving like Hurricane Harvey in 2017, which could mean catastrophic flooding.

Melissa is forecast to become the first Category 5 landfall in the Atlantic Basin since Dorian roared into the Bahamas in 2019. There have been 32 Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic since the use of satellites began in 1966, with 13 of those having formed in the past nine years.

Jamaicans are taking stock after Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm to strike the island in modern history, barrelled across the country leaving behind a trail of ruin. Without power or phone coverage, much of the country is isolated and so information is trickling through.