Overview
- Melissa made landfall in eastern Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane with roughly 120 mph winds, with forecasters warning it will remain dangerous as it moves toward the Bahamas and near Bermuda.
- Jamaica is under a disaster declaration after a catastrophic Category 5 strike, with widespread power and communications outages and reports of damaged hospitals, including severe flooding in St. Elizabeth.
- Cuban authorities reported about 735,000 evacuations in eastern provinces before landfall, and the government warned of extensive damage and urged residents to remain sheltered.
- Deaths have been reported across the region, including confirmed fatalities in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, with officials cautioning that tolls may rise as access improves.
- International relief efforts are mobilizing, with the UN planning an airlift of about 2,000 relief kits to Jamaica and other countries and governments preparing deployments as airports begin phased reopenings.