As reported at the AP, Hurricane Melissa left at least dozens dead and caused widespread destruction across Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica. In Cuba, officials reported collapsed houses, blocked mountain roads and roofs blown off buildings Wednesday. Authorities said about 735,000 people remained in shelters.
Melissa made landfall in eastern Cuba near the city of Chivirico early Wednesday as a Category 3 storm after pummeling Jamaica as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Hundreds of thousands of people had been evacuated to shelters in Cuba. A hurricane warning was in effect for the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Holguin and Las Tunas.
Early Wednesday, Melissa had top sustained winds of 120 mph and was moving northeast at 10 mph according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The hurricane was centered 20 miles east of Chivirico and about 60 miles west-southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba.