Hurricane Melissa has made a devastating landfall in Cuba as a powerful Category 3 storm, unleashing 120mph winds and torrential rain along the island’s southern coast. Thousands of British tourists and residents have found themselves stranded after flights were cancelled and airports closed, as the storm, described by experts as the “storm of the century”, tore through Jamaica and moved toward Cuba.
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) confirmed the storm hit early on Wednesday morning, battering the province of Santiago de Cuba and nearby areas already reeling from days of preparation and fear. More than 700,000 people have been evacuated from coastal and low-lying regions, as authorities warned of “life-threatening storm surge, flash flooding and landslides” across eastern Cuba.
Melissa’s arrival in Cuba came less than 24 hours after the storm tore through Jamaica, where it left at least three people dead and caused catastrophic damage to homes, roads and power lines. In total, at least seven people across the Caribbean have lost their lives so far, three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic. The NHC said the storm will continue to pose a major threat as it tracks northward toward the Bahamas and potentially near Bermuda in the coming days.