Hurricane Melissa strikes Cuba after battering Jamaica with record winds

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in eastern Cuba on Wednesday, just hours after hitting Jamaica with record-breaking winds that left the island paralysed and braced for fatalities.

Hurricane Melissa, a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph), struck Cuba’s southern coast early on Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Authorities reported the evacuation of around 735,000 people from eastern provinces ahead of the storm’s arrival.

The hurricane reached Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 system — the strongest ever recorded on the island — with winds up to 185 mph. The southwestern town of New Hope took the brunt of the impact, with entire communities submerged and more than 500,000 people left without electricity.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said on CNN that although no confirmed fatalities had yet been reported, “some loss of life” was expected due to widespread damage to homes, hospitals and infrastructure. “The reports that we have had so far would include damage to hospitals, significant damage to residential property, housing and commercial property as well, and damage to our road infrastructure,” he said.

AccuWeather meteorologists ranked Melissa as the Caribbean’s third most intense hurricane on record, after Hurricane Wilma in 2005 and Gilbert in 1988 — the last major storm to directly hit Jamaica.

Local reports said at least three people died in Jamaica during preparations, and a senior disaster official was hospitalised after suffering a stroke as the storm made landfall. By late Tuesday, large areas remained inaccessible due to flooding and debris.

In the Bahamas, officials ordered evacuations in the southern islands, bracing for the storm’s next move. Further east, at least four people were reported dead after days of heavy rain in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

• How hurricanes get their names and why it matters

Scientists have linked the increasing intensity of tropical storms like Melissa to rising ocean temperatures, prompting renewed calls from Caribbean leaders for climate-related reparations or debt relief from major polluting nations.

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