A meteorologist tried to throw down with a hurricane and ended up throwing up.

Matthew Cappucci, a meteorologist for The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang, was caught on camera vomiting while flying through the eye of Hurricane Melissa.

Cappucci was interviewed by CNN’s Erin Burnett on Monday and shared the gross footage — but Burnett pointed out that he had a good reason for allowing CNN to air it.

“I know that you got sick on the flight,” Burnet said. “I mean, it was that horrifically turbulent, even though you’ve done this before. You did record that so everyone could understand just the severity of this.”

Cappucci described the experience as being “very reminiscent of a roller coaster at night.”

“If you’ve ever been on Space Mountain at Disney World, you sort of know how it is,” Cappucci said. “You know it’s dark, you don’t know if you’re going up, down, left or right. You’re jostled all about, to and fro.”

Though Cappucci may have shared the footage to emphasize the severity of the storm, he still clearly knows how awkward the footage comes off, because he poked fun at himself on X Monday.

“Puking on national TV. I think my television career has peaked,” he quipped.

He added in the comments of his X post: “Also rest assured I was fine 5 minutes later. I knew what I was into and it was worth it 10 fold. 😂”

During his appearance on CNN, Cappucci explained that after “10 crazy minutes with the turbulence,” it suddenly becomes “calm” once you reach the eye of the storm.

“And I have to say, that was one of the most breathtaking and simultaneously horrifying experiences I’ve ever had,” he said. “Even though it was night, the moon was illuminating what we call the stadium effect. Basically, you’re right in the middle of this atmospheric sink drain, and yet you look up, all around you, 360 degrees, towering, hulking thunderstorms overhead, spiraling around, marking that eyewall.”

Cappucci did make sure to add to CNN that Hurricane Melissa was more than just a surreal weather experience.

In the wake of the storm, “it will be very difficult for Jamaica to avert a potentially significant humanitarian crisis,” Cappucci said. “And I’ve covered many storms. I’ve seen high-end hurricanes before, but it’s very rare that we get a hurricane of this magnitude heading to a place that has 2.8 million people there.”

Hurricane Melissa roared into Jamaica with 185 mph winds on Tuesday as a Category 5 storm — and was one of the region’s strongest storms on record, The Associated Press reported. As it shifted to a Category 3 storm, it made landfall in Cuba and Haiti on Wednesday morning and caused “significant damage,” CNN said.

Although it’s unclear how bad the aftermath of the storm is yet, officials in Haiti said about 20 people were killed overnight due to flooding, and three bodies were recovered in Jamaica, The New York Times reports. Melissa has been downgraded to a Category 2 storm as it heads toward the Bahamas.

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba (AP) — Hurricane Melissa made landfall in eastern Cuba near the city of Chivirico early Wednesday as a Category 3 storm after pummeling Jamaica as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Hundreds of thousands of people had been evacuated to shelters in Cuba. A hurricane warning was in effect for the Cuban provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Holguin and Las Tunas, as well as the southeastern and central Bahamas.

Early Wednesday, Melissa had top sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph) and was moving northeast at 12 mph (19 kph) according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The hurricane was centered 60 miles (97 kilometers) west of Guantánamo, Cuba, and 230 miles (370 kilometers) south of the central Bahamas.

The agency warned residents of Cuba to remain sheltered and that preparations for the storm in the Bahamas “should be rushed to completion.”

Melissa was forecast to weaken as it crosses Cuba through the morning, and remain a strong hurricane as it moves across the southeastern or central Bahamas later Wednesday. The storm is then expected to make its way late Thursday near or to the west of Bermuda, where a hurricane watch is in effect.

The continuing intense rain could cause life-threatening flooding with numerous landslides, U.S. forecasters said.

Melissa struck Jamaica on Tuesday with top sustained winds of 185 mph (295 kph).

The storm was expected to generate a storm surge of up to 12 feet (3.6 meters) in the region and drop up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain in parts of eastern Cuba.

“Numerous landslides are likely in those areas,” said Michael Brennan, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The hurricane could worsen Cuba’s severe economic crisis, which already has led to prolonged power blackouts, as well as fuel and food shortages.

“There will be a lot of work to do. We know there will be a lot of damage,” Díaz-Canel said in a televised address, in which he assured that “no one is left behind and no resources are spared to protect the lives of the population.”

At the same time, he urged the population not to underestimate the power of Melissa, “the strongest ever to hit national territory.”

Provinces from Guantánamo — in the far east — to Camagüey, almost in the center of elongated Cuba, had already suspended classes on Monday.

As Cuba prepared for the storm, officials in Jamaica prepared to fan out Wednesday to assess the damage.

Extensive damage was reported in parts of Clarendon in southern Jamaica and in the southwestern parish of St. Elizabeth, which was “under water,” said Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Council.

The storm also damaged four hospitals and left one without power, forcing officials to evacuate 75 patients, McKenzie said.

More than half a million customers were without power as of late Tuesday as officials reported that most of the island experienced downed trees, power lines and extensive flooding.

The government said it hopes to reopen all of Jamaica’s airports as early as Thursday to ensure the quick distribution of emergency relief supplies.

The storm already was blamed for seven deaths in the Caribbean, including three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Heavy floodwaters swept across southwestern Jamaica, winds tore roofs off buildings and boulders tumbled onto roads Tuesday as Hurricane Melissa came ashore as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.

Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Council, urged people to seek shelter and stay indoors as the storm crosses the island.

“Jamaica, this is not the time to be brave,” he said.

The Jamaican government said it had done all it could to prepare as it warned of devastating damage from the strongest hurricane to hit the island since recordkeeping began 174 years ago.

“There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said. “The question now is the speed of recovery. That’s the challenge.”

Landslides, fallen trees and numerous power outages were reported as Melissa came ashore near New Hope, with officials cautioning that the cleanup and damage assessment could be slow. The storm is expected head toward Cuba, where intermittent rain was falling.

Colin Bogle, a Mercy Corps adviser based near Kingston, said most families are sheltering in place despite the government ordering evacuations in flood-prone communities. He was sheltering with his grandmother in Portmore, where everything went dark earlier in the day after a loud explosion.

“The noise is relentless,” he said. “People are anxious and just trying to hold on until the storm passes.”

Massive wind damage is expected in Melissa’s core and Jamaica’s highest mountains could see gusts of up to 200 mph (322 kph), said Michael Brennan, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

“It’s going to be a very dangerous scenario,” he said, warning that there would be “total building failures.”

Hurricane Melissa’s 185 mph (295 kph) winds and 892 millibars of central pressure tied two records for the strongest Atlantic storm on landfall. The pressure — the key measurement meteorologists use — ties 1935’s Labor Day hurricane in Florida. The wind speed ties the 1935 hurricane and 2019’s Hurricane Dorian, said hurricane scientists Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University and Brian McNoldy of the University of Miami.

“It’s been a remarkable just a beast of a storm,” Klotzbach told The Associated Press.

On Tuesday evening, Melissa had top sustained winds of 145 mph (230 kph) and was moving north-northeast at 8 mph (13 kph) as its center exited Jamaica and moved into the Caribbean Sea, according to the National Hurricane Center. The hurricane was centered about 15 miles (20 kilometers) east of Montego Bay, Jamaica, and about 200 miles (325 kilometers) southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba.

A life-threatening storm surge of up to 13 feet (4 meters) is expected across southern Jamaica, with officials concerned about the impact on some hospitals along the coast. Health Minister Christopher Tufton said some patients were relocated from the ground floor to the second floor, “and (we) hope that will suffice for any surge that will take place.”

One man called a radio station saying he urgently needed to help a woman in western Jamaica who had gone into labor as the storm neared landfall. The show’s host pleaded with listeners to let him know the safest hospital before an obstetrician called in to provide detailed directions on how to deliver a baby, if necessary.

In Kingston, officials warned residents of the surrounding area to watch out for crocodiles that might be displaced from their habitats by flooding.

McKenzie said the government was prepared for rescues immediately after the storm passes through: “We have boats, helicopters, you name it.”

The storm already was blamed for seven deaths in the Caribbean, including three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.

More than 240,000 customers were without power before landfall and about one-fourth of the telecommunications system was offline ahead of the storm, said Darryl Vaz, transport and energy minister. He said crews will clean and run tests at the island’s two main international airports Wednesday in hopes of receiving emergency relief flights as early as Thursday.

U.N. agencies and dozens of nonprofits had food, medicine and other essential supplies positioned as they awaited a distribution rush after the storm.

Matthew Samuda, Jamaica’s water and environment minister, said he had more than 50 generators available to deploy after the storm, but warned people to set aside clean water and use it sparingly.

“Every drop will count,” he said.

Melissa was expected to make landfall in eastern Cuba late Tuesday or early Wednesday. Up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain was forecast in areas, along with a significant storm surge along the coast.

In a televised address to the nation Tuesday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel urged the population to not underestimate the power of the storm, “the strongest ever to hit national territory.”

In the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, people streamed into the home of 83-year-old Eduviges Figueroa at the foot of the Sierra Maestra mountains to seek shelter after fleeing their homes in remote areas by bus, truck and even horse-drawn carts.

“We’re helping as best we can,” she said. “Now I’m cooking for everyone.”

People in Santiago de Cuba, the island’s second-largest city with more than 1 million inhabitants, spent Tuesday frantically preparing. Few people were on the streets, while state television showed Cubans in rural areas rounding up animals and protecting crops.

Diamon Mendoza, 36, did not hide her concern about the unavoidable storm.

“May God have mercy on us, because it’s coming with a lot of strength,” Mendoza said. “Anything can happen.”

Authorities in eastern Holguín province prepared to evacuate more than 200,000 people Tuesday and evacuated a similar number of people earlier from the town of Banes.

Reports on social media and state television showed blue and white buses ferrying evacuees to shelter early Tuesday. Families clutched babies and belongings and elderly people steadied themselves with canes as they disembarked.

Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Associated Press journalists Geir Moulson in Berlin, Andrea Rodríguez in Havana, Seth Borenstein in Washington and Ariel Fernández in Santiago de Cuba contributed to this report.