Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica as category 5 storm

MEXICO CITY -- Hurricane Melissa made landfall Tuesday morning on the Caribbean island of Jamaica as a powerful category 5 storm, with maximum sustained winds of up to 295 kilometers per hour, said the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew Holness said on X that Hurricane Melissa is expected to produce rainfall amounts reaching 350 to 750 millimeters over parts of Jamaica in the next couple of days.

Mandatory evacuation orders were put in place for areas in Jamaica across Kingston, Clarendon, St. Catherine and St. Andrew.

Hurricane Melissa is the world's strongest storm this year and possibly the strongest on record for the island, experts said.

Its slow moving pace may lead to prolonged torrential rain in some areas, increasing the risk of deadly flooding and landslides.