Principal Director of the Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, says while Melissa’s “interesting” drift east-southeast takes it away from Jamaica, this could be very short-lived. #GLNRToday | Jamaica Gleaner

The Crooked River to Trout Hall main road in Clarendon was transformed into a raging river on Tuesday as torrential rains from Hurricane Melissa swept across Jamaica. The powerful Category 5 system made landfall in the western parish of Westmoreland at midday, dumping inches of rainfall that inundated several central parishes and left roads impassable. #TrackingMelissa | Jamaica Gleaner

The Meteorological Service of Jamaica has reported that reconnaissance aircraft indicates a drift of Tropical Storm Melissa to the east-southeast over the Caribbean Sea, however, the Tropical Storm Warning and the Hurricane Watch continue for Jamaica. At 7 a.m., the centre of Tropical Storm Melissa was located near latitude 15.9 degrees North, longitude 75.0 degrees West. This is about 415 kilometres southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti and about 256 kilometres (159 miles) south-southeast of Moran

Hurricane Melissa has weakened slightly to a Category 4 system, but the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) says catastrophic winds, flash flooding, and storm surge remain ongoing across Jamaica. The storm made landfall in Westmoreland and is moving over St James. At 3 p.m. the hurricane’s center was located about 10 miles south of Montego Bay, packing maximum sustained winds near 150 mph (240 km/h). Melissa is moving at 8 mph (13 km/h). The NHC warned that this remains an “extremely dangerous an

The parish of St Elizabeth is “under water” as Hurricane Melissa continues to pound Jamaica, leaving widespread flooding and damage across several parishes, Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie says. Speaking at a Tuesday evening news conference, McKenzie described the devastation in the southern parish as extensive, noting that “a number of families” were trapped in their homes in Black River, the parish capital. He said rescue teams were struggling to reach affected residents because of