How Hurricane Melissa Could Devastate New Yorkers

Hurricane Melissa has become the strongest storm of 2025, and New Yorkers are watching nervously.

Hurricane Melissa is closing in on Jamaica with the potential to cause massive devastation.

Strongest Storm Of 2025 Expected To Devastate Jamaica

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As of this writing, Melissa is the strongest storm the world has seen this year, and its outer bands are already starting to lash the island of Jamaica.

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It's currently packing maximum sustained winds of 175 miles per hour, making Melissa an extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane.

Forecasters are warning that the storm will unleash life-threatening flooding, several feet of rain, and landslides.

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The Category 5 monster is tearing through the Caribbean, leaving catastrophic damage in its path. The storm has already slammed Jamaica with extreme winds, flash flooding, and dangerous mudslides, and is expected to impact Cuba and the Bahamas next.

Will Hurricane Melissa Impact New York State?

The good news for New Yorkers is that Hurricane Melissa isn't expected to make landfall in the Empire State.

Experts say the hurricane will eventually be pushed northeast into the Atlantic, moving it safely away from the U.S. East Coast.

Incoming: Thousands Fleeing Florida, California, Texas For New York
State

Forecast models are in strong agreement that New York and the rest of the Northeast won’t see any direct impacts.

New York Has Large Caribbean Communities

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The storm’s devastation is being felt in New York in another way.

The crisis hits close to home for the Empire State's large Caribbean and Jamaican communities.

Families are anxiously watching updates and trying to reach loved ones as relief efforts ramp up across the city. The Jamaican Consulate in New York and local organizations are already preparing support for those affected.

So while New York is spared the storm’s wrath, many in our communities are bracing for heartbreaking news from the islands many still call home.

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