{"id":231413,"date":"2025-10-29T04:48:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T04:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/231413\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T04:48:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T04:48:10","slug":"hurricane-melissa-live-updates-extremely-dangerous-storm-strengthens-towards-cuba-after-devastating-jamaica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/231413\/","title":{"rendered":"Hurricane Melissa live updates: \u2018Extremely dangerous\u2019 storm strengthens towards Cuba after devastating Jamaica"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Hundreds of thousands lose power and telecoms in Jamaica<\/p>\n

Internet observatory NetBlocks has reported a sharp drop in connectivity across Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa continues to batter the island.<\/p>\n

The monitoring service said hundreds of thousands of residents have lost power and telecommunications after high winds brought down lines and damaged infrastructure.<\/p>\n

A graph shared by NetBlocks on X shows a steep decline in network activity since yesterday, reflecting the widespread outages caused by the storm.<\/p>\n

Shweta Sharma29 October 2025 04:45<\/p>\n

<\/a>Trump says ‘we’re watching it closely’<\/p>\n

Donald Trump said the US will help Jamaica with Hurricane Melissa.<\/p>\n

“We’re watching it closely, and we’re prepared to move,” he said.<\/p>\n

Trump marveled at the storm’s strength, saying: \u201cI’ve never seen that before. I guess it can get that high, but I’ve never seen it,” he said. <\/p>\n

Shweta Sharma29 October 2025 04:30<\/p>\n

<\/a>In pictures: Cubans prepare for Hurricane Melissa\"AA car drives through a flooded street ahead of Hurricane Melissa’s arrival in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on Tuesday. (AFP via Getty Images)\"ResidentsResidents hold pieces of a roof before Hurricane Melissa arrives in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on Tuesday. The storm is expected to hit Cuba early Wednesday morning (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Katie Hawkinson29 October 2025 04:01<\/p>\n

<\/a>Officials warn of landslides in Jamaica and Cuba<\/p>\n

The National Hurricane Center says landslides are expected in both Jamaica and Cuba as Hurricane Melissa batters the Caribbean.<\/p>\n

The storm, which is now a Category 3 hurricane, is expected to reach Cuba early Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Katie Hawkinson29 October 2025 03:30<\/p>\n

<\/a>Hurricane Melissa is gaining strength as it approaches Cuba<\/p>\n

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Melissa is \u201cre-strengthening as it approaches Eastern Cuba\u201d.<\/p>\n

The storm is expected to make landfall as an “extremely dangerous major hurricane” in the next few hours, it said.<\/p>\n

The hurricane is about 110miles (175km) southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba, and about 300miles (485km) off the central Bahamas. <\/p>\n

Shweta Sharma29 October 2025 03:12<\/p>\n

<\/a>Thousands of British tourists stranded as Hurricane Melissa devastates Jamaica<\/p>\n

Around 8,000 British holidaymakers remain stranded in Jamaica after powerful Hurricane Melissa tore through the Caribbean island.<\/p>\n

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) urged British nationals to register their presence on the government website to receive updates and assistance as authorities have ordered people to stay indoors as the storm, the world\u2019s strongest so far this year, continues to wreak havoc.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe FCDO stands ready to help British nationals 24\/7. We have set up a crisis centre in the Foreign Office, including with support from the Ministry of Defence, and we are positioning specialist rapid deployment teams to provide consular assistance in the region,” foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said.<\/p>\n

\"JamaicaJamaica Extreme Weather (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)<\/p>\n

Ms Cooper added that up to 50,000 dual nationals live in Jamaica, alongside thousands of visiting British citizens who may be affected by the disaster.<\/p>\n

Some Britons have expressed frustration at the government\u2019s response.<\/p>\n

David Rowe, an IT manager from Hertfordshire, said he felt \u201ccompletely let down\u201d after paying \u00a33,500 for last-minute flights home before airports shut.\u201c<\/p>\n

The advice should have come last week \u2013 \u2018don\u2019t travel\u2019 \u2013 because many travel companies rely on FCDO guidance,\u201d Mr Rowe told the PA news agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis could have been prevented with better action from the UK government.\u201d <\/p>\n

Shweta Sharma29 October 2025 03:04<\/p>\n

<\/a>How much rainfall is expected in Jamaica and Cuba?<\/p>\n

As Hurricane Melissa moves away from Jamaica, the nation is expected to see a total of 24 inches of rainfall, with 30 inches in isolated areas possible, according to the National Hurricane Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The storm is now heading for Cuba, where the National Hurricane Center is expecting 20 inches of rainfall through Wednesday, with 25 inches possible in mountainous areas. <\/p>\n

Katie Hawkinson29 October 2025 03:00<\/p>\n

<\/a>Comment: What it is like to be in the path of 185mph Hurricane Melissa<\/p>\n

Annie Paul writes from Kingston, Jamaica, detailing the devastation from Hurricane Melissa:<\/p>\n

Katie Hawkinson29 October 2025 02:30<\/p>\n

<\/a>Americans describe impact of Hurricane Melissa<\/p>\n

Americans Peter and Dahlia Kong, who are visiting Jamaica, told CNN<\/a> they are stuck in the country with five children under the age of five.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a bunch of little babies with us, we\u2019ve got five kids under five,\u201d Peter said. \u201cSo we were very scared about the little ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about his biggest fear, Peter said he\u2019s concerned about the uncertainty in the aftermath of the storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe aftermath is usually where the worst of the worst comes out of people, especially being in a hotel, you know, where there’s a lot of tourists, when food becomes scarce,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know, the people are, you know, I\u2019m sad to say, the people are the ones that I’m watching for the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family is hoping to fly out of Jamaica on Thursday, Dahlia added.<\/p>\n

Katie Hawkinson29 October 2025 02:27<\/p>\n

<\/a>Trump says U.S. will send aid to Jamaica <\/p>\n

President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One that the U.S. will provide aid to Jamaica in the wake of Hurricane Melissa.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a humanitarian basis, we have to,\u201d Trump said on Tuesday evening. \u201cSo we’re watching it closely, and we’re prepared to move, but you know, it’s doing tremendous damage as we speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katie Hawkinson29 October 2025 02:03<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of thousands lose power and telecoms in Jamaica Internet observatory NetBlocks has reported a sharp drop in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-231413","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}