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Hurricane Melissa ploughs across Jamaica, now moving toward Cuba
NBC6 reports – While Jamaica is feeling the brunt of Hurricane Melissa, Cuba is getting ready as outer bands are already affecting the eastern part of the island.
People in Cuba were bracing for landfall from Hurricane Melissa, which already struck in Jamaica. NBC6 reporter, Hatzel Vela was in Cuba back in 2017 when Hurricane Irma hugged the northern coast of the island.
But this time, Hurricane Melissa is headed right to the eastern southern coast. In the eastern province of Guantanamo, downpours have already started as Hurricane Melissa makes its way to the largest Caribbean island.
Luis Suarez spoke exclusively to NBC6 about conditions on the ground.
Where he lives, he said, people have already been without power for a day or two and are being forced to cook with charcoal.
It has nothing to do with the storm, as Cubans are already dealing with a deep economic crisis where scarcities are common everyday occurrences.
On Cuban TV, the country updated citizens on the storm’s latest information, including the thousands of people, who have been evacuated from the eastern provinces.
That includes tourists. José Luis Garcia is a Mexican tourist, and said he is not exactly sure where he’s going, only that he’s being taken to a safe place.
No doubt this massive storm has Cubans on that side of the island worried about what’s to come.
At the U.S. military base in Guantanamo, 1,000 residents were evacuated to Pensacola. Meanwhile, people in the southern Bahamas are also getting ready as evacuations continue.
Government officials said more than 500 residents have been evacuated from several islands.
In Jamaica, thousands slept in shelters overnight after Hurricane Melissa slammed the island.
More than 800 shelters were opened ahead of Melissa’s impact, according to Jamaican officials. And some 15,000 people are in these shelters tonight.
Melissa is now a category three hurricane, according to a new update from the US National Hurricane Center.
Maximum sustained windspeeds are currently 125mph (205km/h), a large drop from the 185mph when it made landfall a few hours ago.
It warns that more “catastrophic” flooding is likely in Jamaica, with some areas expecting 30 inches (76cm) of rain.
The latest bulletin calls for Jamaicans to remain inside shelters until the storm is fully passed.
It also calls on residents of Cuba, where up to 25 inches of rain is predicted, to “seek safe shelter immediately”.
In the Bahamas, where Melissa is due to arrive in a few hours, “preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion”.
St. Elizabeth Parish, in Jamaica’s southwestern coast, is now under water, after the country’s infrastructure was “severely compromised” by Hurricane Melissa, a local government minister says.
Desmond McKenzie says the Black River Hospital in St. Elizabeth Parish is now without power and 75 patients are being relocated.
The region of Clarendon has suffered extensive damage, he adds, and a fire station in Santa Cruz is flooded.
“We’re still not out of the woods,” he warns, adding that assessment teams will make their way out to provide communities with necessary relief supplies when the opportunity presents itself.
“We are on standby. Everything is ready, we are just waiting for the system to pass and for some level of calm to come back to the system,” McKenzie says.
Close to 15,000 Jamaicans have gone to various shelters across the country, he says.
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