Overview:
Category 5 Hurricane Melissa has displaced 900 families in Haiti, with 3,653 seeking shelter in the Grand Sud region, where the South, Grand’Anse and Southeast departments are on red alert.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Hurricane Melissa, fiercer than Hurricane Katrina as it nears landfall in Jamaica Tuesday, has caused such severe weather in Haiti that at least 900 families have been displaced. To date, more than 3,650 people in the Grand Sud, the southern region placed under red alert over the weekend, had taken shelter in state-run facilities.
Authorities with the General Directorate of Civil Protection (DGPC) report that these people have been accommodated in about 40 of the 350 available shelters. They are also providing assistance to people leaving flood-prone areas as part of the effort to evacuate residents and mitigate loss of life.
No new deaths had been reported in the last 24 hours, they said. The three known people who died in Haiti perished on October 23 and 24 — two in a landslide and one from a fallen tree — before the storm had picked up wind speed that stood at 185 miles per hour as of early Tuesday. According to a New York Times report, the wind is stronger than Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005, and may likely cause tremendous damage in the Caribbean as it passes.
As Melissa—initially a tropical storm—passed ever stronger, authorities placed the Grand Sud, including the departments of the South, Grand-Anse and Southeast under red alert over the weekend. Indicating that danger is imminent and must be taken to protect life and property, the red alert remains in effect as the hurricane poses a major risk to the Caribbean, particularly Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Schools in the Grand Sud have closed due to severe weather and are being used as temporary shelters.
Several people, including children, sit on the floor of a shelter for residents of the Grand Sud of Haiti who fled their homes as Hurricane Melissa approached on Monday, October 27, 2025. Credit: WFP via X
Besides the south, several other regions of Haiti woke up to heavy rains and winds on Tuesday. The departments of West, Artibonite and Northwest are under an orange alert, which indicates a high danger for which people must actively prepare and stay informed.
Authorities recommend that people seek safe shelter and, while doing so, avoid crossing moving water, stay away from windows, not let children sleep on the floor and stay out of the sea. They added it is important to secure valuable belongings and documents and to continuously follow reliable information via radio, television or online.
Over in Jamaica, three deaths were reported in an initial assessment of Hurricane Melissa’s impact, as people were struck by falling tree branches while using ladders.
Overall, meteorologists now say, Melissa ranks among the most intense Atlantic hurricanes of all time. In May, forecasters from NOAA’s National Weather Service said they expected a very busy season of storms between June 1 and November 30. By August, they updated the number of expected named storms to 13-18 (with winds of 39 mph or greater), of which 5-9 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or greater), including 2-5 major hurricanes (winds of 111 mph or greater).
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