<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hurricane Melissa is grinding across Cuba as a Category 3 storm after </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/hurricane-melissa-update-storm-intensifies-to-category-5-on-path-to-slam-into-jamaica-as-islands-strongest-recorded-storm/afebb313-b2b8-41c0-b7c4-6c4c24368dd7" rel="" target="" title="pummelling Jamaica"><span>pummelling Jamaica</span></a><span> as </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/hurricane-melissa-updates-weather-system-is-strongest-storm-on-planet-this-year/3f438a45-0895-4617-9b21-0e353b732bca" rel="" target="" title="one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record"><span>one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record</span></a><span>, the US National Hurricane Centre says.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hundreds of thousands of people in Cuba had been evacuated to shelters on Wednesday. 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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Melissa had top sustained winds of 165km/h and was moving north-northeast at 22km/h according to the centre.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>AS IT HAPPENED:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/hurricane-melissa-landfall-jamaica-live-updates-most-powerful-storm-of-2025/39ea098e-c578-4dec-8d68-3a844c6d72e4" rel="" target="" title="Hurricane Melissa tears through Jamaica, makes landfall in Cuba"><strong><span>Hurricane Melissa tears through Jamaica, makes landfall in Cuba</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The hurricane was centred 72 kilometres north-west of Guantánamo, Cuba, and 330 kilometres south of the central Bahamas.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The agency warned that preparations for the storm in the Bahamas "should be rushed to fulfilment".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Melissa struck Jamaica on Tuesday with top sustained winds of 295km/h before weakening over land.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/hurricane-melissa-update-storm-hits-cuba-after-lashing-jamaica/ad94e02b-508d-4ca6-a3bc-636bea25ae99" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was forecast to continue weakening as it crossed Cuba and remain a strong hurricane as it moves across the southeastern or central Bahamas later on Wednesday (early Thursday AEDT).</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The storm is expected to make its way late on Thursday (Friday AEDT) near or to the west of Bermuda, where a hurricane watch is in effect.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The storm was expected to generate a storm surge of up to 3.6 metres in the region and drop up to 51 centimetres of rain in parts of eastern Cuba.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/victoria-cricket-player-in-critical-condition-after-incident-during-warm-up-ferntree-gully/c1dcd6ec-69cb-4810-a69c-d8fa5c427e08"><strong><span>Boy fighting for his life after cricket nets horror</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The intense rain could cause life-threatening flooding with numerous landslides, US forecasters said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The hurricane could worsen Cuba's severe economic crisis, which already has led to prolonged power blackouts, as well as fuel and food shortages.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There will be a lot of work to do. We know there will be a lot of damage," Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said in a televised address, adding that "no one is left behind and no resources are spared to protect the lives of the population."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/south-australia-police-nearly-60-people-arrested-major-sting-anon-devices/ac1527d5-e1a0-4630-b242-5a0b5444ac7b"><strong><span>Dozens charged and $26m seized during 'unprecedented' police sting</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He urged the population not to underestimate the power of Melissa, "the strongest ever to hit national territory".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Officials in Jamaica were analysing the damage.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>More than half a million customers were without power late Tuesday as officials reported that most of the island had downed trees, power lines and extensive flooding.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Extensive damage was reported in parts of Clarendon in the south and in the south-western parish of St Elizabeth, which was "under water", said Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica's Disaster Risk Management Council.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/singapore-airlines-flight-melbourne-airport-plane/4764efe1-d735-4192-929e-c413330b3643" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>Plane dumps fuel as it circles Melbourne, forced to return to airport</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The storm damaged four hospitals and left one without power, forcing officials to evacuate 75 patients.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The government said it hopes to reopen all of Jamaica's airports as early as Thursday to ensure quick distribution of emergency relief supplies.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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