Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm to make landfall in Cuba in 90 years, caused “considerable damage” across the island and left at least 30people dead in its path through Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Panama, and especially Haiti, where search operations are still underway.
“The night was very complex,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on social media, urging residents to “stay well sheltered” as the powerful storm continued to batter the island with violent winds.
According to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), Melissa remained between Categories 3 and 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale on Wednesday, with winds exceeding 200 km/h. The NHC projected the storm’s center would move off Cuba’s eastern coast, cross the Bahamas, and approach Bermuda by Thursday night.
Before striking Cuba, Melissa hit Jamaica on Tuesday, matching the 1935 Labor Day hurricane’s record as the most intense ever to make landfall, with winds nearing 300 km/h. The storm killed at least three people in Jamaica, ten in Haiti, one in the Dominican Republic, and three in Panama.
In Haiti’s southern coastal town of Petit-Goâve, the La Digue River overflowed, sweeping several people away. “More than a dozen bodies have been found, and searches are ongoing for the missing,” local officials said.
Cuban authorities reported 735,000 people evacuated, mainly from the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, and Guantánamo, where schools, businesses, and government offices were closed. In Jamaica, over 530,000 residents were left without electricity as crews worked to restore power to hospitals and essential facilities.
