Hurricane Melissa bears down on Jamaica and threatens to be the island's strongest recorded storm

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Hurricane Melissa intensified into a Category 5 storm Monday as it drew closer to Jamaica, where forecasters expected it to unleash catastrophic flooding, landslides and widespread damage. At that strength, it would be the strongest hurricane to hit the island since record-keeping began in 1851.

Blamed for seven deaths in the northern Caribbean as it headed toward the island, Melissa was on track to make landfall Tuesday in Jamaica before coming ashore in Cuba later in the day and then heading toward the Bahamas. It was not expected to affect the United States.

Anticipating the hardship in store for his country, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said, “I have been on my knees in prayer.”

Hanna Mcleod, a 23-year-old hotel receptionist in the Jamaican capital of Kingston, said she boarded up the windows at her home, where her husband and brother are staying. She stocked up on canned corned beef and mackerel and left candles and flashlights throughout the house.

“I just told them to keep the door closed,” she said. “I am definitely worried. This is actually the first time I’ll be experiencing this type of hurricane."

Category 5 is the top of the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, with sustained winds exceeding 157 mph (250 kph). Melissa would be the strongest hurricane in recorded history to hit the small Caribbean nation directly, said Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather.

A storm surge of up to 13 feet (4 meters) was expected along coastal Kingston, which Porter said is home to critical infrastructure such as Jamaica’s main international airport and power plants.

“This can become a true humanitarian crisis very quickly, and there is likely going to be the need for a lot of international support,” Porter said in a phone interview.

On Monday night, Melissa was centered about 155 miles (245 kilometers) southwest of Kingston and about 335 miles (535 kilometers) southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba. The system had maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (280 kph) and was moving northwest at 2 mph (4 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Parts of eastern Jamaica could see up to 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rain while western Haiti could get 16 inches (40 centimeters), the hurricane center said, citing the likelihood of “catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides."

Mandatory evacuations were ordered in flood-prone communities in Jamaica, with buses ferrying people to safe shelter.

But some insisted on staying.

“I hear what they say, but I am not leaving," said Noel Francis, a 64-year-old fisherman who lives on the beach in the southern town of Old Harbor Bay, where he was born and grew up. “I can manage myself.”

His neighbor, Bruce Dawkins, said he also had no plans to leave his home.

“I am not going anywhere,” Dawkins said, wearing a raincoat and holding a beer. The fisherman said he had already secured his vessel and planned to ride out the storm with his friend.

Several towns along Jamaica's southern coast already reported power outages as winds picked up throughout the night.

“My only concern is flooding, because we live near the sea,” said Hyacinth White, 49, who said she had no plans to evacuate to a shelter.

Officials said the biggest storm surge was expected in the Black River community in western Jamaica, where Sandra Walker was the sole street vendor working just hours ahead of the hurricane.

“I have no choice but to be here,” she said as she sorted potatoes, green bananas, tomatoes and scallion stalks in her stall.

Walker, a single mother of two, is still struggling to recover after Hurricane Beryl destroyed her business and home last year. She lives by the ocean but does not plan to go to a shelter because she had a “terrible” shelter experience during Hurricane Ivan, when the facility offered only a handful of tins of corned beef to share.

Jamaican government officials said they were worried that fewer than 1,000 people were in the more than 130 shelters open across the island.

“It’s way, way below what is required for a Category 5 hurricane,” said Daryl Vaz, Jamaica’s transport minister, who urged people “to be smart ... If you are not, unfortunately, you will pay the consequences.”

The slow-moving storm has killed at least three people in Haiti and a fourth person in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing. Two people died in Jamaica over the weekend as they cut trees ahead of the storm, and a third one died after being electrocuted.

“It's nothing to play with,” said Water and Environment Minister Matthew Samuda. “The time for preparation is all but over."

More than 50,000 customers were without power. Landslides, fallen trees and downed power lines were reported ahead of the storm.

In eastern Cuba, a hurricane warning was in effect for the Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo and Holguin provinces, while a tropical storm warning was in effect for Las Tunas. Up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain was forecast for parts of Cuba, along with a significant storm surge along the coast.

Cuban officials said they would evacuate more than 600,000 people from the region, including Santiago, the island's second-largest city. Long bus lines formed in some areas.

Later, Melissa was forecast to barrel through the southeastern and central Bahamas, which were under a hurricane warning. A tropical storm warning was issued for the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Evan Thompson, principal director at Jamaica's meteorological service, warned that cleanup and damage assessment would be severely delayed because of anticipated landslides, flooding and blocked roads.

A storm of Category 4 or higher has not made landfall in Jamaica in 174 years of record-keeping. Hurricane Gilbert was a Category 3 storm when it hit the island in 1988. Hurricanes Ivan and Beryl were both Category 4, but they did not make landfall, Thompson said.

The storm already has drenched the Dominican Republic, where schools and government offices were ordered to remain closed on Monday in four of nine provinces still under the most serious form of weather alert.

Melissa damaged more than 750 homes across the country and displaced more than 3,760 people. Floodwaters also have cut access to at least 48 communities, officials said.

In neighboring Haiti, the storm destroyed crops in three regions, including 15 hectares (37 acres) of maize at a time when at least 5.7 million people, more than half of the country’s population, are experiencing crisis levels of hunger.

Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Associated Press Writer Andrea Rodríguez in Havana contributed to this report.

Fuel pumps are covered in plastic at a gas station ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Melissa in Kingston, Jamaica, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

A man walks along the coastline ahead of the forecasted arrival of Hurricane Melissa in Old Harbour, Jamaica, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

A man wades through a flooded street ahead of the forecasted arrival of Hurricane Melissa in Old Harbour, Jamaica, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

A fisherman ties boats in preparation for the forecasted arrival of Hurricane Melissa in Old Harbour, Jamaica, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

This satellite image provided by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Melissa, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (NOAA via AP)

People abandon a car on an impassable street flooded by rains caused by Tropical Storm Melissa in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)

A man rides a bicycle ahead of the forecast arrival of Hurricane Melissa in Kingston, Jamaica, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Clouds cover Kingston, Jamaica, ahead of the forecast arrival of Hurricane Melissa on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

A woman strolls along the beach ahead of the forecast arrival of Hurricane Melissa in Kingston, Jamaica, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Workers board up shop windows ahead of Hurricane Melissa's forecast arrival in Kingston, Jamaica, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

The U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she said.

U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”

Several U.S. government social media accounts posted brief videos that appeared to show various parts of the ship’s capture. Black-and-white footage showed at least four helicopters approaching the ship before hovering over the deck while armed troops dropped down by rope. At least nine people could be seen on the deck of the ship.

The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.

The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, the ship was partially filled with crude.

Days later, the Veronica became one of at least 16 tankers that left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine that U.S. forces have set up to block sanctioned ships, according to Samir Madani, the co-founder of TankerTrackers.com. He said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document the ship movements.

The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.

According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the Treasury Department for being associated with a Russian company moving cargoes of illicit oil.

As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”

Speaking to reporters at the White House later Thursday, Noem declined to say how many sanctioned oil tankers the U.S. is tracking or whether the government is keeping tabs on freighters beyond the Caribbean Sea.

“I can’t speak to the specifics of the operation, although we are watching the entire shadow fleet and how they’re moving,” she told reporters.

But other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.

Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro’s capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)