A couple jokes around on the coast in Kingston, Jamaica, as Hurricane Melissa approaches, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

High floodwaters have swept across southwestern Jamaica, with winds tearing roofs off buildings and boulders tumbling into roads as Hurricane Melissa came ashore as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.

Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Council, urged people to seek shelter and stay indoors as the storm crosses the island.

“Jamaica, this is not the time to be brave,” he said.

The Jamaican government said it had done all it could to prepare as it warned of devastating damage from the strongest hurricane to hit the island since recordkeeping began 174 years ago.

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