Hurricane Melissa left dozens dead and widespread destruction across Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti on Wednesday, and it continued on to pass through the Bahamas as a weakened storm.

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.

For a Category 5, this means speeds above 252 kilometers per hour (157 miles per hour). According to the National Hurricane Center’s (NHC) latest report, Melissa’s current maximum sustained wind speed sits at around 280 km/h (175 mph). This makes it the strongest storm to have hit in 2025.

Will the 13th storm of the hurricane season be lucky and pass right over, or will it be the first to make landfall, potentially in Florida?

The Gulf Coast appears to have dodged a bullet after Marco — once a tropical storm — collapsed into a post-tropical cyclone as it neared the Louisiana coast. But the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warns that the region faces a more substantial threat ...

The record-breaking Category 5 Hurricane Melissa, with sustained winds of 185 mph and gusts of over 200 mph, made landfall in Jamaica on Oct. 28 with 130 mph winds. This marks Melissa the strongest hurricane that has made landfall on the island to date.

Authorities report at least 30 people have been killed in Haiti and 19 in Jamaica as a result of the devastating storm.