MIAMI, FL (WNCN) — After passing through Jamaica as a devastating Category 5 system, Hurricane Melissa continues to ravage the Caribbean as it makes landfall in Cuba.
On Tuesday, Melissa was the third-strongest Hurricane on record in the Atlantic with a low pressure of 892 millibar, according to the National Hurricane Center. The system sustained winds of 185 miles per hour with gusts registering as high as 220 mph as it made its approach, moving NNE at 7 mph as it approached Jamaica’s coast.
As of Thursday morning, Hurricane Melissa had slightly deteriorated to a Category 3 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds at 115 mph and gusts up to 140 mph. “Melissa is expected to remain a powerful hurricane when it moves across the Bahamas later today and passes near Bermuda on Thursday night,” the National Hurricane Center said.
Hurricane Melissa is moving northeast at 12 mph. It is in eastern Cuba, about 260 miles away from Guantanamo.
“For eastern Cuba, storm total rainfall of 10 to 20 inches are expected through today with local amounts to 25 inches expected over mountainous terrain,” NHC said. “This will cause life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flash flooding with numerous landslides.”
The NHC has issued a Hurricane Warning for the Cuban provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Holguin, and Las Tunas — as well as Southeastern and Central Bahamas.
Hurricane Melissa makes landfall in Jamaica, conditions deteriorating rapidly
Hurricane Melissa’s impact to Jamaica
Hurricane Melissa is the 6th major hurricane in history to hit Jamaica, but it’s also the strongest with winds of 185 mph when it made landfall Tuesday. Melissa is also the 3rd Cat 5 this season in the Atlantic.
Jamaica remains in a Tropical Storm Warning amid damage to the island.
Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica on Tuesday with top sustained winds of 185 mph.
As Cuba prepared for the storm, officials in Jamaica prepared to fan out Wednesday to assess the damage.
Extensive damage was reported in parts of Clarendon in southern Jamaica 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 also damaged four hospitals and left one without power, forcing officials to evacuate 75 patients, McKenzie said.
More than half a million customers were without power as of late Tuesday as officials reported that most of the island experienced downed trees, power lines and extensive flooding.
The government said it hopes to reopen all of Jamaica’s airports as early as Thursday to ensure the quick distribution of emergency relief supplies.
The storm already was 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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
