Mighty Hurricane Melissa Targets Eastern Cuba
The center is expected to reach land late tonight or early Wednesday.
HAVANA TIMES – Hurricane Melissa made landfall Tuesday morning in Jamaica and left by mid-afternoon. The center is now over the Caribbean en route to Cuba. The Weather Channel’s Science Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Matt Sitkowski told Havana Times:
“Earlier today, Hurricane Melissa made landfall near New Hope, Jamaica, as a Category 5 hurricane with 185 mph winds. This ties the Labor Day Hurricane (1935) and Hurricane Dorian (2019) for the strongest sustained winds at landfall among Atlantic Basin hurricanes. Flooding, rains and landslides will remain a threat even as winds subside later today.”
Matt Sitkowski further noted that as the storm moved over Jamaica, it was still a major hurricane as it approaches Cuba late tonight or early Wednesday. He added, “The storm will accelerate its forward speed on Wednesday as it moves over the Bahamas and is forecast to remain a hurricane late Thursday night as it nears Bermuda.”
Thousands of Cubans left their vulnerable homes for shelter at stronger buildings, while others took up at neighbors with more solid houses. Creating conditions to face a hurricane is extremely difficult in this impoverished country that is already in severe crisis, with shortages of food, water, cooking gas, electricity, transportation and deteriorated housing.
At six o’clock this evening in Cuba, the Cuban Weather Service (INSMET) said it expects the center of Hurricane Melissa to enter the island on the southeast coast between Granma and Santiago de Cuba.
At 8:00 PM ET, the National Hurricane Center placed the center of Melissa at 50 miles (80 Kilometers) ENE from Montego Bay Jamaica and about 160 miles (260 Kilometers) SW of Guantanamo, Cuba. Maximum sustained winds are now 125 mph (205 kph).
While Melissa’s movement has sped up a little to 8 mph (13 kph) it still means several hours of the center of the storm over Cuban territory and the prolonged impact of the outer bands.