Hurricane Melissa live updates: ‘Catastrophic’ category 5 storm makes landfall in Jamaica with 295km/h winds

Torrential rain has poured through ceiling panels at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Wild footage shared on social media shows the inside of the departure lounge completely destroyed after Melissa ripped through western Jamaica earlier today.

The storm has since weakened to a category three, but could regain strength before hitting Cuba over the next few hours.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness says he expects there to be “devastating impacts” wherever the eye of Hurricane Melissa hit the island.

“Reports that we have had so far would include damage to hospitals, significant damage to residential property, housing and commercial property as well,” Mr Holness told CNN.

He added that the South Western end of Jamaica, including St Elizabeth, would have been the hurricane’s “corridor of impact”, before the storm headed towards the north-west.

The Government has not yet received reports of storm-related deaths, Mr Holness reiterated, but given the strength of the hurricane and extent of damage, he is “expecting that there would be some loss of life”.

Hurricane Melissa is now a category three storm with 201km/h sustained winds, according to the National Hurricane Centre’s (NHC) latest advisory.

The powerful storm is beginning to move towards Eastern Cuba as conditions are “expected to deteriorate rapidly over the next several hours”.

The NHC says those in the Cuban provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Holguin and Las Tunas should “seek safe shelter immediately”.

Meteorologists expect the rainfall in Cuba to cause “life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flash-flooding with numerous landslides”.

Meanwhile, in Jamaica, Melissa is set to bring more “catastrophic” flooding, with some areas expecting 76cm of rain.

As Hurricane Melissa batters Jamaica, there is still currently no official confirmation of any fatalities linked to the storm as it made landfall.

Jamaica’s local government minister, Desmond McKenzie, said he hasn’t “gotten anything official to say that there are deaths”.

“Let us hope that there are none so far,” he said.

While officials are figuring out how to clear debris, Mr McKenzie emphasised that his immediate priority is delivering relief supplies to affected communities.

“That is our first priority - to get relief supplies to those who are in need, and the assessment will come after.”

Hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans are without electricity after Hurricane Melissa tore through the island, unleashing destructive winds, torrential rain, and dangerous storm surges.

As of 4pm local time (8am AEDT), more than 530,000 residens remain in the dark, according to the Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Desmond McKenzie.

“Work is presently underway to restore our service, with priority being given to critical facilities,” Mr McKenzie said during a press conference.

Approximately 25,000 tourists are in Jamaica, according to Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett.

The category four storm will continue to rage over Jamaica for the next few hours, before moving north.

Now, all eyes turn to Cuba, where Melissa is expected to make landfall later this afternoon.

Watch the latest update from the US National Hurricane Centre below.

Melissa’s eye has now passed over Jamaica, with authorities racing to assess the extent of her damage.

However, Hurricane Melissa’s threat has not passed. Now, the system is heading directly towards Cuba.

Mass evacuations are now underway as authorities attempt to mitigate risk to life.

The roof of the Savanna La Mar Public General Hospital has been torn off by Melissa’s ferocious winds that are still battering Jamaica.

Video shows the roof being ripped from the structure; sadly, no match for Melissa’s destructive force.

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Hurricane Melissa has now been downgraded to a category four system. However, when she made landfall, Jamaica was hit with the brunt of a category five.

Video has started to emerge of the system’s full force as flooding starts to ravage the area.

Ahead of Hurricane Melissa’s “The destruction could be unlike anything people in Jamaica have seen before,” US forecaster AccuWeather’s hurricane expert Alex DaSilva said.

“The island has never taken a direct hit from a category four or a category five hurricane in recorded history.”

Melissa is the third most intense hurricane observed in the Caribbean after Wilma in 2005 and Gilbert in 1988, according to AccuWeather.

Gilbert was the last major storm to directly hit the island.

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