KINGSTON : The catastrophic Category 5 hurricane Melissa has made landfall in Jamaica, and the government has declared the country a disaster area under the Disaster Risk Management Act, Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness, said on Wednesday.

“At 12:00 Noon, the centre of hurricane Melissa made landfall on the southwestern coast of Jamaica near New Hope, Westmoreland”, he noted in a post on X.

In another post, he said, “Acting on the advice of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management and the Hon. Desmond McKenzie, Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has declared Jamaica a disaster area under the Disaster Risk Management Act. This declaration takes effect today, October 28, 2025”.

He underscored that these orders give the Government tools to continue managing the response to Hurricane Melissa.

UN agencies such as the World Food Programme have started working in order to support the impacted communities.

WFP said that Melissa is the biggest hurricane to hit the Caribbean since Hurricane Beryl in July last year, and the strongest storm seen anywhere in the world this year.

In order to support the communities across the Caribbean who will be impacted by the Hurricane, WFP is working around the clock.

In Haiti, WFP is providing anticipatory e-money distributions to meet urgent humanitarian needs and help people protect their livelihoods ahead of the storm. The distributions will reach approximately 45,000 people and total US$900,000.

In Jamaica, WFP is on the ground, coordinating with the government and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, to support with emergency logistics and telecommunications, supply chain, and food and cash assistance as required, the official website of WFP noted.

It added, in Cuba’s eastern region, which is most at risk, WFP and the government have prepositioned food supplies to support 275,000 people for up to 60 days.

In the Dominican Republic, more than 4,000 vulnerable households in flood-prone areas will receive cash to prepare for the storm and reduce the impact on household food security. If needed, emergency food assistance will be activated in the southwestern provinces to reach up to 6,000 families with ready-to-eat meals for five days and dry rations for 15 days, WFP said.

Hurricane Melissa is a ferocious Category 5 storm spinning about 150 miles southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, with sustained winds of 175 mph. It is one of the most intense hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, CNN said in its report.