Hurricane Melissa and Treasure Beach: What Actually Happened

Melissa formed in the Caribbean in October 2025 and rapidly intensified into a Category 5 hurricane, making landfall on Jamaica’s southwestern coast near Black River on October 28 with sustained winds of around 185 mph — tied for the strongest winds ever recorded in an Atlantic hurricane. It was the most powerful storm on record to strike Jamaica directly. The damage across the island was real and widespread: roughly 120,000 buildings lost their roofs, and total physical damage has been estimated at around US$8.8 billion.

Treasure Beach, including Billy’s Bay, took a harder hit than some other parts of the island — storm surge and wind damaged the coastline, the main road, and a number of homes and businesses. Jakes Hotel, one of the area’s best-known properties, closed temporarily and reopened in mid-December 2025. The Treasure Beach Food, Rum & Reggae Festival, disrupted in 2025, returns in an expanded format in November 2026 — local reporting since has described a community-driven recovery that has substantially rebuilt the district, rather than a token reopening.

Butterfly Hill Villa itself came through the storm undamaged and never closed. Guests have continued to stay here without interruption since. We are telling you this directly because we would rather you hear it from us than wonder about it — the honest answer is that the villa was fine, even though the wider area around it was not, and we are not glossing over what our neighbours went through to get here.

Jamaica’s hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to November 30, with the highest risk typically in September and October. In most years, the vast majority of that stretch passes with nothing more than the usual afternoon showers — Melissa was a genuine outlier, not a typical hurricane-season event. See our guide to the best time to visit Jamaica and what the weather is actually like for the fuller seasonal picture.

For real-time storm tracking, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (nhc.noaa.gov) and the Jamaica Meteorological Service are the two sources worth going to directly, rather than relying on general news coverage. If a storm forms and is forecast anywhere near the Caribbean while you have a trip booked with us, get in touch directly and we will tell you plainly what we are seeing and what your options are.