Hurricane Melissa was the most powerful hurricane to lash the island since record-keeping began 174 years ago.

One week after Hurricane Melissa slammed into Jamaica, the island is still struggling to recover from one of the most destructive storms in recent memory.

"Seeing the videos and the photographs is one thing, but actually being there in person and seeing the damage is quite another," a local senator said. "It's heartbreaking."

Jamaican officials describe harrowing scenes across the island, with more than 32 deaths and 25 communities still marooned.

The Category 5 storm, which left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean, stunned forecasters and meteorologists, achieving extreme rapid intensification as well as a never-before-recorded wind speed near the ocean surface.

Sapini, who won Miss Massachusetts USA in 2024, will fly to Thailand at the beginning of November. The international pageant itself will take place on Nov. 21

A discussion with videographer Josh Morgerman on what it was like inside the eye wall of Melissa and where to send support after the storm.

However, scientists said, the world is measurably warmer than it was a century ago. Hurricane hotspots like the Caribbean Sea and parts of the Atlantic Ocean are hotter, giving Melissa additional fuel to become powerful. That warmer water also makes for a more humid atmosphere; storms can more easily wring more rain out of wetter air.