Prime Minister Andrew Holness has declared Jamaica a “disaster area” after Hurricane Melissa barrelled across the Caribbean island as one of the most powerful storms on record.

The hurricane – which made landfall as a Category 5 storm ripped off the roofs of homes, and felled power lines and trees, leaving most of its 2.8 million people without electricity.

Melissa took hours to cross over Jamaica, a passage over land that diminished its winds, dropping it down to a Category 3 storm, before it ramped back up as it continued on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, towards Cuba.

Holness said in a series of posts on X that the storm has “ravaged” his country and the disaster declaration gives his government “tools to continue managing” its response to the storm.