Water flows, as Hurricane Melissa approaches, in Kingston, Jamaica, October 28, 2025. (Octavio Jones/Reuters)
At a news press conference on Tuesday, Jamaican officials warned residents of misinformation being spread online during Hurricane Melissa, including social media posts falsely suggesting the Category 5 storm had already passed.
“You have to be very discerning. You have to know what is good information from bad information,” said Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica’s minister of education, skills, youth and information. “If you want to know where the storm is going, if you want to know what to do, you need to look for official sources.
Morris Dixon said the websites for the Jamaica Information Service [JIS], the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management [ODPEM] and the Office of the Prime Minister were “legitimate places.”
“There is so much misinformation online,” she said. “I know also in the WhatsApp groups, you have to be very careful there too. If anything seems really weird, remember, go to official sources and check. If it’s not on JIS, if it’s not on ODPEM, it’s probably not true.”