Overview
- Melissa made landfall near Chivirico in Santiago de Cuba as a major Category 3 storm with sustained winds around 195 km/h, bringing destructive gusts, torrential rain and coastal surge, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
- Cuban authorities evacuated roughly 735,000 people in eastern provinces and reported flooding, landslides and infrastructure damage, with schools and transport halted and some power plants shut down preventively.
- Jamaica was struck a day earlier by Category 5 winds near 295 km/h, prompting a national disaster declaration, leaving more than 530,000 customers without electricity and placing about 15,000 people in shelters.
- Officials across the region report multiple fatalities in Jamaica, Haiti, Panama and the Dominican Republic, with tallies in Haiti increasing and the overall death toll still being assessed due to disrupted communications.
- The NHC expects the center to exit Cuba and move through the southeast and central Bahamas later Wednesday, with hurricane alerts in the Bahamas and a hurricane warning for Bermuda as the storm remains a powerful cyclone.