Celebrity Beyond’s Oct. 26 itinerary will visit the Western Caribbean rather than the Eastern Caribbean, according to the cruise line’s parent company, Royal Caribbean Group. The ship will visit Costa Maya in Mexico, Belize and Roatan, Honduras.

Satellite imagery captures the eye of Hurricane Melissa travelling over western Jamaica, generating 145 mph winds, catastrophic flash flooding, and life-threatening storm surge. Image courtesy of CIRA

Lightning flashes in the eyewall of Category 5 Melissa are a marker of how strong the storm is. It reached a central pressure of 892 millibars, among the lowest ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. It is tied as the third-most intense Atlantic storm with the devastating 1935 Labor Day hurricane.

Melissa strengthened into a deadly Category 5 hurricane Monday with catastrophic impacts expected across the Caribbean, similar to Sarasota last year.

A fast-developing storm was expected to bring “unprecedented” amounts of rain to several countries, meteorologists said.

Historic, life-threatening flash flooding and landslides are expected in portions of Jamaica, southern Haiti and the Dominican Republic through the weekend, the NHC said. Peak storm surge heights could reach 9 to 13 feet above normal tide levels when the storm makes landfall, accompanied by large and powerfully destructive waves.

Hurricane Melissa is about to make landfall in Jamaica. Marlon Hill, Lead Relief Mobilizer for the south Florida organization Caribbean Strong, joins Chris Jansing to share more on how they are already preparing to send critical supplies to the country in the aftermath of the storm.