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The hurricane Melissa, which remains a major category 3 hurricane, is about to make landfall in eastern Cuba, according to reports from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) of the United States early Wednesday morning.
At 2:00 a.m. (Cuba time), the center of Melissa was located at 19.7 degrees north latitude and 76.4 degrees west longitude, approximately 130 kilometers west-southwest of Guantánamo and 435 kilometers south of the central Bahamas. The system is maintaining maximum sustained winds of 205 kilometers per hour and a minimum central pressure of 952 millibars, moving towards the northeast at 17 km/h.
Maximum alert in eastern Cuba
The NHC warned that Melissa will impact the southeastern region of Cuba in the coming hours as an extremely dangerous hurricane, with the potential for destructive winds, torrential rains, and significant storm surges.
The provinces of Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Holguín, and Las Tunas remain under a hurricane warning, while Camagüey, Haiti, Jamaica, and the Turks and Caicos Islands are under a tropical storm warning.
Torrential rains and dangerous swells
The bulletin warns that Melissa will bring between 250 and 500 millimeters of rain to eastern Cuba, with locally higher accumulations in mountainous areas, which will lead to potentially catastrophic flash floods and numerous landslides.
Additionally, a storm surge of between 8 and 12 feet (2.5 to 3.5 meters) above normal sea level is anticipated, particularly along the southeastern coast, with large and destructive waves that could impact bays and inlets along the northern shoreline.
The NHC also confirmed that hurricane-force winds extend up to 45 km from the center of the system, while tropical storm-force winds reach up to 315 km.
Authorities are urging everyone to stay in shelters
The Cuban authorities of the Civil Defense have activated the phases of hurricane alert in the eastern part of the country and urge the population to stay in safe shelters, not to go out during the passage of the cyclone, and avoid approaching coastal areas or bodies of water.
The NHC indicated that Melissa could maintain its intensity while crossing eastern Cuba and will continue to be a strong hurricane as it moves through the Bahamas in the next 24 hours.
The next full bulletin will be issued at 5:00 a.m. (Cuba time).
Photo: NOAA / NHC — Satellite image of Hurricane Melissa in the early hours of Wednesday.
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