Overview
- Melissa hit Jamaica as a Category 5 with sustained winds near 295–300 km/h, prompting a national disaster declaration and leaving roughly three quarters of the island without power and tens of thousands in shelters.
- The storm made landfall in eastern Cuba near Chivirico in Santiago de Cuba, where authorities evacuated about 735,000 people and reported widespread flooding, infrastructure damage and communications blackouts.
- Preliminary tallies indicate at least around 30 deaths across the region, with Haiti reporting roughly 25 fatalities tied to river flooding near Petit-Goâve, and additional deaths confirmed in Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.
- By Wednesday night the system had weakened to Category 1 after crossing Cuba and was moving toward the southeastern Bahamas, with the National Hurricane Center warning of dangerous winds, storm surge and heavy rain and noting a track near or west of Bermuda by Thursday night.
- The UN said it is sending about 2,000 emergency kits from Barbados as international partners mobilize logistics, search-and-rescue support and cash assistance for affected Caribbean communities.