Jaw-dropping videos shot from inside the eye of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa have stunned viewers across the world, offering a rare glimpse of nature’s fury at its most extreme. One clip, recorded by a US Air Force “Hurricane Hunter” crew, shows the so-called “stadium effect” — towering clouds curving around a calm blue centre — as the aircraft cuts through the storm’s core.The footage, filmed on multiple passes through Melissa, quickly went viral. “Third pass through Melissa. GoPro in side window as different camera looking forward shooting in ultra high res 8K,” wrote pilot and storm chaser @FlynonymousWX, who shared the video on X. He described the mission as “very powerful but relatively straightforward” compared to earlier flights that faced intense turbulence and “nasty meso activity.”
The US Air Force Reserve’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, based at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi, is the only operational unit in the world to routinely fly into hurricanes. The team, known as the “Hurricane Hunters,” collects vital data for the U.S. National Hurricane Center to forecast the storm’s strength and path.Jamaica braces for its strongest storm in 174 yearsHurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica early Tuesday, bringing winds of up to 175 mph (282 km/h) and torrential rain. The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned of “catastrophic and life-threatening” flooding, landslides and storm surges reaching up to 13 feet along the southern coast.Prime Minister Andrew Holness described the hurricane as the island’s most violent in recorded history, saying: “There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5. The question now is the speed of recovery — that’s the challenge.”Despite evacuation orders, many residents chose to remain in their homes. “I’m not moving. I don’t believe I can run from death,” said Roy Brown, a plumber in Kingston’s Port Royal district. Others cited poor conditions in public shelters. “I have no choice but to be here,” said Sandra Walker, a vendor in St Elizabeth, who feared losing her livelihood.Officials reported landslides, widespread power cuts, and at least three storm-related deaths. “It’s nothing to play with,” warned Environment Minister Matthew Samuda, urging Jamaicans to stay indoors.Cuba and the Bahamas next in lineAfter battering Jamaica, Melissa is expected to move north towards Cuba late Tuesday before crossing the Bahamas. Cuban authorities began evacuating more than 600,000 people from coastal regions, including the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo, amid fears of severe flooding and a storm surge up to 20 inches high.The storm has already claimed at least seven lives across the Caribbean — three in Jamaica, three in Haiti, and one in the Dominican Republic — and displaced thousands. In Haiti, officials reported crop destruction and flooding in multiple provinces, worsening the country’s hunger crisis.Meteorologists warn that Melissa’s slow speed could amplify destruction, as its rains linger over affected areas. “Water kills a lot more people than wind,” said climate scientist Kerry Emanuel, adding that human-driven warming is making such rapid intensification events more frequent.As Jamaican authorities prepare for what could be the strongest storm since records began 174 years ago, Prime Minister Holness urged calm but vigilance: “You have been warned. It’s now up to you to make the right decision.”
