Melissa Weakens After Devastating Caribbean Rampage

As of October 31, 2025, Hurricane Melissa's reign of terror over the Caribbean appears to be coming to an end. The National Hurricane Center reports that Melissa is moving quickly away from Bermuda and is expected to weaken into an extratropical cyclone later on Friday, October 31st, with a gradual weakening throughout the weekend.

The powerful storm, which was one of the most intense hurricanes on record, has left a devastating impact on the region. Parts of the Caribbean are now conducting search and rescue operations and surveying the extensive destruction caused by Melissa, which made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday as a deadly Category 5 hurricane. The hardest-hit areas include Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti, where damaging winds and severe flooding from storm surge and days of rainfall destroyed homes and infrastructure.

The death toll from the hurricane has already surpassed 50 in Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, with authorities continuing to verify reported deaths. Rescue and recovery efforts have been hampered by widespread power outages, communications failures, and blocked roads. Despite the destruction, the Jamaican Minister of Education, Skills, Youth, and Information, Dana Dixon, has expressed resilience, stating, "The entire Jamaica is really broken because of what has happened, but we remain resilient."

As Melissa moves away from the region, the National Hurricane Center warns that swells generated by the storm will continue to affect portions of Hispaniola, Cuba, the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Bermuda during the next couple of days. These swells are expected to reach the northeastern coast of the United States and the Atlantic coast of Canada on Friday and persist into the weekend, potentially causing life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.