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Hurricane Melissa continues to move over eastern Cuba and, according to the latest report from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) of the United States, it is expected to leave Cuban territory in the coming hours along the northeastern coast, heading towards the southeastern Bahamas in a northeast direction while maintaining strong hurricane status.
At 8:00 a.m. (Miami time), Melissa's eye was located at 20.6°N and 75.7°W, about 70 kilometers northwest of Guantánamo and 335 kilometers south of the central Bahamas, with maximum sustained winds of 165 km/h and higher gusts.
The system is moving to the north-northeast (30°) at 22 km/h, and its central pressure is 968 millibars, according to intermediate bulletin number 32A.
Forecasts indicate that Melissa will head out to sea north of the province of Holguín during the morning or early afternoon, then move over the southeastern Bahamas and approach Bermuda between Thursday night and Friday morning.
A still dangerous hurricane
Although Melissa has lost some of the extreme intensity with which it made landfall—when it was a Category 3 storm—it still maintains a hurricane-force wind field of 45 km around the center and tropical storm winds that extend up to 295 km.
The NHC warns that it will continue to cause heavy rainfall and dangerous swells, especially in the mountainous areas of eastern Cuba and along the northern coast.
The accumulated rainfall since Tuesday exceeds 250 mm in Santiago de Cuba and 300 mm in locations in the Sierra Maestra, while in Holguín and Guantánamo it could reach up to 500 mm before the system moves away completely.
These rains, combined with the steep terrain, increase the risk of flash floods and landslides.
The U.S. agency has issued hurricane warnings for the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Holguín, and Las Tunas, as well as for the southeast and central Bahamas.
Tropical storm alerts are also in effect for Camagüey, Haiti, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Swells and coastal risk
The NHC warns that a storm surge of up to 2.4 meters could impact low-lying areas of the northeastern coastline, with minor coastal flooding in bays and inlets, while waves of up to 3 meters are expected in the Bahamas.
The swells and ocean currents will continue to pose a danger to navigation and the Cuban coastline over the next 24 hours.
Melissa, which on Tuesday had winds of nearly 300 km/h as a historic Category 5 hurricane, is gradually moving away from Cuba, but leaves behind catastrophic rainfall, structural damage, and power outages across much of the eastern part of the country.
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