Overview
- Melissa struck Jamaica at Category 5 with sustained winds near 300 km/h, prompting a nationwide disaster declaration and causing extensive damage to homes, hospitals, roads and power networks.
- At least 20 people died in Haiti after severe flooding, with additional missing reported near Petit-Goâve as swollen rivers swept away homes.
- The hurricane made landfall in southeastern Cuba as a Category 3 near El Frances/Guamá, where more than 735,000 people were evacuated and officials reported considerable damage but no confirmed fatalities.
- Cuban media reported roughly 3.5 million people without electricity and significant communications outages, while in Jamaica hundreds of thousands also remained without power.
- Now a Category 2 system moving northeast toward the Bahamas and then Bermuda, Melissa is forecast to lose tropical characteristics over the North Atlantic as international aid efforts ramp up, including UN supplies and US and UK assistance.