Hurricane Melissa was grinding across Cuba on Wednesday, weakening to a Category 2 storm, after pummeling Jamaica as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, the U.S. National Hurricane Centre said.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Cuba had been evacuated to shelters. A hurricane warning was in effect for Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Holguin and Las Tunas provinces as well as the southeastern and central Bahamas.

Melissa had top sustained winds of 105 mph (165 kph) and was moving north-northeast at 14 mph (22 kph) according to the National Hurricane Centre in Miami. The hurricane was centred 45 miles (70 kilometres) northwest of Guantánamo, Cuba, and 205 miles (335 kilometres) south of the central Bahamas.

The agency warned that preparations for the storm in the Bahamas “should be rushed to completion.”

WRITTEN BY

Television station in Trinidad and Tobago. Free to Air everywhere… Trinidad: Channels 12 VHF &14 Cable Viewers can continue to view us on Channel 3 Tobago: TRICO Cable Channel 3 and Free to Air on Channel 22 LIVE STREAM: https://www.cnc3.co.tt/livestream