SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba (AP) — Hurricane Melissa slammed into Cuba Wednesday as a Category 3 storm after destroying Jamaica as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recordedThis was reported by the American National Hurricane Center.
A man walks in the rain before the arrival of Hurricane Melissa in Canizo, a community in Santiago de Cuba, Tuesday, October 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
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A man walks in the rain before the arrival of Hurricane Melissa in Canizo, a community in Santiago de Cuba, Tuesday, October 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Hundreds of thousands of people in Cuba had been evacuated to shelters. A hurricane warning was in effect for the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Holguin and Las Tunas, as well as the southeastern and central Bahamas.
Melissa had sustained winds of 105 mph and was moving north-northeast at 14 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The hurricane was located 45 miles (72 kilometers) northwest of Guantánamo, Cuba, and 200 miles (330 kilometers) south of the central Bahamas.
The agency warned that preparations for the storm in the Bahamas “must be completed as a matter of urgency.”
Melissa hit Jamaica on Tuesday with sustained winds of 300 km per hour before weakening over land.
The hurricane was forecast to weaken further as it crossed Cuba and remain a strong hurricane later Wednesday as it passes over the southeastern or central Bahamas. The storm is expected to make its way late Thursday near or west of Bermuda, where a hurricane watch is in effect.
The storm was expected to cause a storm surge of up to 3.5 meters in the region and drop up to 50 centimeters of rain in parts of eastern Cuba. The heavy rain could cause life-threatening flooding with numerous landslides, US forecasters said.
The hurricane could worsen Cuba’s dire economic crisis, which has already led to prolonged power outages and fuel and food shortages.
“There will be a lot of work to do. We know there will be a lot of damage,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said in a televised address, adding that “no one will be left behind and no resources will be spared to protect the lives of the population.”
He urged people not to underestimate the power of Melissa, “the strongest to ever strike national territory.”
Officials in Jamaica were assessing the damage. More than half a million customers were without power late Tuesday as officials reported most of the island had downed trees, power lines and major flooding.
Extensive damage was reported in parts of Clarendon in the south and in the southwestern parish of St. Elizabeth, which was “underwater,” said Desmond McKenzie, vice-chairman of Jamaica’s Disaster Risk Management Council.
The storm damaged four hospitals and left one without power, forcing officials to evacuate 75 patients, McKenzie said.
The government said it hopes to reopen all Jamaica’s airports as early as Thursday to ensure rapid distribution of emergency relief supplies.
The storm has already been blamed for seven deaths in the Caribbean, including three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic, where one person is still missing.
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