The Jamaican government has ordered the evacuation of the population as Hurricane Melissa approaches the coastline. President Miguel Diaz-Canel also announced the evacuation of thousands of people in eastern Cuba.
According to a decree by the Jamaican government published on its website, evacuations are underway in several areas of the island, including the capital Kingston.
The Cuban president announced in X that “thousands of people are being evacuated“ in the eastern part of the island. “At the meeting of the National Defense Council, we insisted that the priority is the protection of the population,“ he noted. The head of state stressed that one of the main tasks of the authorities is to inform the public.
According to data from the Cuban Institute of Meteorology, published on the agency's website, Hurricane Melissa has gradually intensified over the past 12 hours in the area south of Jamaica. “The maximum wind speed increased to 230 km/h, the gusts became stronger, and the pressure at its epicenter dropped to 941 hectopascals, which is equivalent to a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale“, the institute's statement noted.
It is also noted that Melissa will continue to move in the same direction for the next 24 hours. The institute's forecast then said the hurricane "will gradually move north and northeast, passing very close to Jamaica or over the island itself, and could reach the east coast of Cuba as early as Tuesday."
At the end of last week, Diaz-Canel noted the very high probability that Melissa would affect this part of the island. Over the weekend, rainfall and strong winds intensified throughout Cuba, including the metropolitan area and the city of Havana. The Cuban Meteorological Institute "is closely monitoring the development and direction of this powerful hurricane," the statement said.
On October 26, the US National Hurricane Center reported that Hurricane Melissa, which formed in the Atlantic Ocean, had strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. A flood and landslide warning has been issued for parts of Jamaica and Haiti.