Jamaica: A United States Air Force reconnaissance aircraft flew into the centre of Hurricane Melissa, capturing striking video footage from inside the eye of the world’s strongest storm of 2025.
The operation, conducted by the unit known as the “Hurricane Hunters”, was carried out to collect meteorological data for the US National Hurricane Center.
Eye of the storm captured on camera
The aircraft entered the eye of Hurricane Melissa from the southeast shortly after sunrise. In one of the videos, shared on X, light can be seen breaking over the far side of the storm’s eye wall as the plane crosses into a zone of still air surrounded by dense clouds.
Have a look at the now-viral video here:
Inside, the footage revealed the “stadium effect”, a phenomenon in which the walls of the hurricane curve outward with height, resembling the tiers of a sports arena when viewed from above. The crew also recorded two more videos showing the structure of the storm before it approached land, highlighting the calm at its centre and the intensity building around it.
At the time of the mission, Melissa was a Category 5 system moving towards Jamaica. The National Hurricane Center reported it as the most powerful storm ever recorded to make landfall on the island since official records began in 1851.
Jamaica prepares for severe impact
Jamaica was expected to face extreme conditions as the hurricane approached on Tuesday. Forecasts predicted storm surges of up to 13 feet along the coast near Kingston, threatening the capital’s key infrastructure, including its international airport and power plants.
By Monday night, more than 50,000 electricity customers were without power. Local authorities reported landslides, fallen trees and downed power lines across several parishes.
Neighbouring countries were already facing casualties linked to the storm’s outer bands. Three deaths were confirmed in Haiti, and another person was killed in the Dominican Republic, where one individual remained missing.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said, “I have been on my knees in prayer,” as emergency services prepared for the storm’s arrival.
According to historical data, no Category 4 or higher hurricane has made landfall in Jamaica for 174 years. Previous powerful storms such as Gilbert in 1988, Ivan in 2004 and Beryl in 2024 passed nearby but did not make direct landfall.
