Hurricane Melissa hits Cuba hours after devastating Jam aica

29/10/2025 17:55

Hurricane Melissa slammed into the southern coast of eastern Cuba on Wednesday, hours after causing devastation in neighboring Jamaica as the strongest-ever cyclone on record to hit that Caribbean island nation.



Melissa was last about 95 km west-southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba, with maximum sustained winds of 195 kph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest update.



It had subsided to a Category 3 hurricane since it roared ashore near Jamaica's southwestern town of New Hope, packing sustained winds of up to 295 kph), according to the Miami-based forecaster.



That was well above the minimum 241 kmph wind speed of a Category 5 storm, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.



In southwestern Jamaica, the parish of St. Elizabeth was left "underwater," and, with more than 500,000 residents without power.