Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Category 5 storm Melissa lands in eastern Cuba after slamming Jamaica with sustained 185 mph winds and catastrophic damage.
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in eastern Cuba early on October 29 as a Category 3 storm, following its historic Category 5 impact on Jamaica the previous day.
Jamaican authorities declared the island a disaster zone after Melissa blew ashore with sustained winds of up to 185 mph, tying the record for the strongest Atlantic landfall ever recorded.
The storm has already claimed at least seven lives across the Caribbean and left vast swaths of Jamaica’s infrastructure in ruin.
In Jamaica the damage was immediate and severe: hospitals, homes and power networks were battered, some parishes reported extensive flooding and communications outages, and the capital, Kingston, faced significant disruption.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced the disaster designation as recovery teams began assessing the scale of the devastation.
By the time Melissa made landfall in Cuba, it had weakened but remained a major hazard.
The National Hurricane Center recorded sustained winds of 115 mph in eastern Cuba and warned of life-threatening rainfall of 10–25 inches, plus storm surge up to 12 feet along the southeast coast.
More than 735,000 people were evacuated in Cuba ahead of landfall.
Forecasters warn that the storm will track northeast toward the Bahamas, where hurricane-force winds and storm surge are expected.
Meanwhile, the full extent of damage in Jamaica and Cuba remains unclear due to widespread power and communications outages.
Humanitarian responses are being activated: in Jamaica, officials flagged more than half a million people were left without electricity and internet connectivity plunged to around 30 percent in some areas.
In Cuba, foreign aid— including family-relief kits donated ahead of the storm—has begun arriving.
As Melissa moves out of the Greater Antilles, governments and aid agencies are gearing up for a sustained recovery effort.
The Caribbean now faces the dual challenge of rebuilding from record wind damage while remaining on high alert for flooding and landslides that will persist long after the eyewall has passed.
Jamaican authorities declared the island a disaster zone after Melissa blew ashore with sustained winds of up to 185 mph, tying the record for the strongest Atlantic landfall ever recorded.
The storm has already claimed at least seven lives across the Caribbean and left vast swaths of Jamaica’s infrastructure in ruin.
In Jamaica the damage was immediate and severe: hospitals, homes and power networks were battered, some parishes reported extensive flooding and communications outages, and the capital, Kingston, faced significant disruption.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced the disaster designation as recovery teams began assessing the scale of the devastation.
By the time Melissa made landfall in Cuba, it had weakened but remained a major hazard.
The National Hurricane Center recorded sustained winds of 115 mph in eastern Cuba and warned of life-threatening rainfall of 10–25 inches, plus storm surge up to 12 feet along the southeast coast.
More than 735,000 people were evacuated in Cuba ahead of landfall.
Forecasters warn that the storm will track northeast toward the Bahamas, where hurricane-force winds and storm surge are expected.
Meanwhile, the full extent of damage in Jamaica and Cuba remains unclear due to widespread power and communications outages.
Humanitarian responses are being activated: in Jamaica, officials flagged more than half a million people were left without electricity and internet connectivity plunged to around 30 percent in some areas.
In Cuba, foreign aid— including family-relief kits donated ahead of the storm—has begun arriving.
As Melissa moves out of the Greater Antilles, governments and aid agencies are gearing up for a sustained recovery effort.
The Caribbean now faces the dual challenge of rebuilding from record wind damage while remaining on high alert for flooding and landslides that will persist long after the eyewall has passed.