On October 27th of 2025, a hurricane formed and caused destruction. The hurricane was named Hurricane Melissa, and the hurricane first hit Jamaica . Around two days after Jamaica got hit, other people in the Caribbean area were hit next. In the early years, 2007-2019, was when meteorologists discovered Melissa and were keeping an eye out to make sure Melissa wasn’t getting too big. Melissa was considered to be just a tropical storm, but not a strong enough tropical storm to cause a hurricane until this year.
Each hurricane that occurs gets rated into different categories, and those categories are named category one through five with one being not that dangerous to five being extremely dangerous. Hurricane Melissa was considered to be in category five which means very fast winds, heavy rain, and very dangerous. In the article, All about Hurricane Melissa, the article published by Convey of Hope states, “By October 27th, Melissa had grown to a category 5 hurricane, the most devastating category, with sustained winds to 185 mph”. Due to the insanely strong winds of up to 185 mph, that put Hurricane Melissa in category 5. Many scientists were in awe of how rapid the winds and hurricane grew over night with gaining more than 58 mph winds in just 24 hours. Hurricane Melissa didn’t just affect Jamaica, it impacted a lot of the Caribbean area as well. The countries that got affected and hit by Melissa were Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and some of the Bahama islands. However, when Melissa got clocked at 185 mph and got put in category 5; Melissa hit the other countries the hurricane got put as a category two and one. That was because the winds died down, but that doesn’t mean Melissa didn’t cause damage to those countries.
As a result of those 185 mph winds, Hurricane Melissa was very destructive and dangerous. Due to Melissa being dangerous and destructive, many peoples homes were destroyed, people injured, communities taken out, and some deaths occurred. In the NBC News, the article published by David K. Li and Anthony Cusumano states, “Hurricane Melissa caused at least 67 deaths, up to $4 billion of insured losses in Jamaica and tens of billions of dollars of overall damage throughout the Caribbean.” However, there are a lot of people and other countries reaching out and supporting the Caribbean area to help with anything they need. The U.S sent an Urban team and rescue search to Jamaica and the Caribbean area to help save people and assist those who were affected by Hurricane Melissa. Many countries’ governments sent resources like food, water, medical supplies, hygiene kits, and some shelter and rescue support. Many countries are invested in helping the people and community to get back on their feet and improve.
Multiple hurricanes happen every so often and affect many people and environments. Although we can’t control what happens and what the hurricanes can destroy, we can control how we respond and react to help the countries that were affected. Jamaica is still in the process of getting better, and with the support from other countries and communities, all of the Caribbean area will be impacted positively.
