Hurricane Melissa Hits Cuba, Leaves Destruction in Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa swept through eastern Cuba, making landfall near Chivirico early Wednesday after being downgraded to a Category 3 storm. This severe weather event followed one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record that impacted Jamaica.

The National Hurricane Center indicated that Melissa would maintain its strength as it travels across Cuba and the Bahamas, approaching Bermuda.

Hundreds of thousands of individuals sought safety in evacuation centers throughout Cuba. Hurricane warnings were issued for regions including Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Holguin, and Las Tunas.

In Jamaica, residents have started to leave evacuation sites and focus on cleaning up after the flood damage, which is a significant part of the recovery process.

Melissa struck Jamaica with sustained winds reaching around 250 mph on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the island a “disaster area,” urging residents to evacuate due to ongoing threats of flooding and landslides as hazardous weather lingered.

The scale of Melissa’s destruction in Jamaica is still largely unknown, and a thorough evaluation may take days as many areas remain without electricity and communication systems are severely affected.

Government Minister Desmond McKenzie noted damage to several hospitals, particularly in the severely affected southwestern region of St. Elizabeth, where the coastline was reported to be “under water.”

“From what we’ve observed, the damage to St. Elizabeth is substantial,” he mentioned during a news briefing.

“This area is crucial for agriculture, often referred to as the breadbasket of Jamaica, and it has been significantly impacted. The entire nation is feeling the effects of Melissa.”

With stronger maximum wind speeds than many catastrophic storms in recent history, Melissa has become the deadliest hurricane to strike Jamaica, surpassing even Hurricane Katrina’s impact on New Orleans in 2005.

The storm is expected to make its way over Cuba in the morning before heading towards the Bahamas later, bringing heavy rainfall with a high risk of flooding and landslides.

Melissa has already claimed seven lives across the Caribbean, including three in Jamaica, three in Haiti, and one in the Dominican Republic, where one person remains missing.