SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated in eastern Cuba and a hurricane warning was in effect for the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Holguin and Las Tunas as Hurricane Melissa made landfall as a Category 3 storm early Wednesday.
The storm, which has since been downgraded to Category 2, was expected to generate a storm surge of up to 12 feet (3.6 meters) in the region and drop up to 20 inches
(51 centimeters) of rain in parts of eastern Cuba.
Melissa was expected later Wednesday to move through the southeastern or central Bahamas, where a hurricane warning is in effect.
The hurricane has already been blamed for seven deaths in the Caribbean, including three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.
Meanwhile, authorities in Jamaica are assessing the damage from Melissa after it tore through the island nation Tuesday as the fifth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record by pressure, and the strongest to make landfall since 2019.
Here’s the latest:
The hurricane could worsen Cuba’s severe economic crisis, which already has led to prolonged power blackouts, as well as 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.
He urged the public not to underestimate the power of Melissa, “the strongest ever to hit national territory.”
In Jamaica, officials told local radio there was extensive damage in the island’s southwestern and northwestern regions.
“There’s a total communication blackout on that side,” said Richard Thompson, acting director general of Jamaica’s Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.
More than half a million customers were without power late Tuesday as officials reported that most of the island had downed trees, power lines and extensive flooding.
Extensive damage was reported in parts of Clarendon in the south and in the southwestern parish of St. Elizabeth, which was “under water,” said Desmond McKenzie, deputy 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 U.S. government said it was deploying a disaster response team and search and rescue personnel to the region.
The State Department said non-emergency personnel and family members of U.S. government employees were authorized to leave Jamaica because of the storm’s impact.
