Hurricane Melissa made landfall on the southern coast of eastern Cuba on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest statement after passing neighboring Jamaica yesterday as the strongest hurricane on record to hit the Caribbean island nation, leaving widespread devastation in its wake.

Hurricane Melissa is located about 95 kilometers west-southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba, moving with maximum sustained winds of 195 km/h, according to the Miami-based meteorologist.

Earlier, the The National Hurricane Center has once again downgraded Melissa to a “category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale” while it had previously reported that it had strengthened again to a category 4 shortly before reaching Cuba. In eastern Cuba, rainfall totals of 10 to 20 inches are expected by today, with localized amounts of 25 inches expected over mountainous terrain. The center warned that the hurricane in Cuba could “cause life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flash flooding with numerous landslides.”

In Jamaica, several areas remain without power, making it difficult to assess damage, while the capital’s main airport, Kingston, may remain closed for another day. Internet outage monitoring service Netblocks reported a sharp drop in connectivity across Jamaica. Across the country, ““hundreds of thousands” of people remain without power and telecommunications due to strong winds and downed power lines, it says.

The hurricane hit the coast near the town of New Hope, southwest Jamaica, accompanied by continuous winds up to 295 km/haccording to the US National Hurricane Center, well above the minimum wind speed of 252 km/h for a Category 5 storm.

In southwestern Jamaica, the parish of St. Elizabeth was left “submerged in water”, an official said, with more than 500,000 residents without power.

The Prime Minister of JamaicaAndrew Holness, announced the island yesterday “disaster area” and warned of “disastrous effects”.

“The reports we have so far include damage to hospitals, significant damage to residential, residential and commercial properties, as well as damage to our road infrastructure,” the prime minister added, speaking to CNN after the storm passed.

Jamaica

The damaging winds are expected to gradually subside across Jamaica, but the National Health Council (NHC) has advised locals to “remain safe in shelters until sunrise”. Rohan Brown, of the Jamaica Meteorological Service, warned that as Melissa moves offshore, her counter-clockwise rotation will cause a strong storm surge in northern Jamaica overnight.

More than 800 shelters were opened before Melissa arrived, Jamaican officials said, and about 15,000 people are in those shelters tonight until the storm passes.

Aid agencies and disaster relief charities are preparing to begin operations across Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean as soon as weather conditions allow. The Red Cross has indicated that it expects around 1.5 million people to be directly affected by the disaster, which is expected to be the worst in Jamaica’s history.

Jamaica

So far it has claimed the lives of seven people, in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

At 227 km/h it is heading towards Cuba

According to the latest announcement from the National Hurricane Center, if Melissa remains at its current intensity, it will cross Cuba with wind speeds up to 215 km/h

Rainfall is expected to reach 25 to 50cm in the east, while some mountainous areas could see 50cm of rain. This will cause “life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flash floods” as well as “numerous landslides,” the NHC says.

Storm surges could reach 2.5 to 4.5 meters above normal tide levels near where the hurricane makes landfall and will be accompanied by “large and destructive waves”, it adds.

Later Wednesday, Melissa is forecast to hit the southeastern or central Bahamas and bring tropical storm conditions to Haiti. By Thursday, it will approach Bermuda.

THE president of cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel warned citizens that the storm could be “one of the most severe – or possibly the strongest” ever to hit the island. “We want to emphasize … the magnitude of this event,” he said, urging Cubans not to return home from shelters.

In a post on X he said 735,000 people have so far been evacuated.

Trump ready to help Jamaica

At the same time, US President Donald Trump spoke to reporters on Air Force One, en route from Japan to South Korea, saying he was ready to help Jamaica.

“We are watching it closely and we are ready to move. I’ve never seen this before. I guess it can go that high, but I’ve never seen it before.” he said