Hurricane Melissa made its second landfall early Wednesday morning around the city of Chivirico in eastern Cuba, doing so as a major Category 3 after hammering Jamaica as the third strongest hurricane ever in Atlantic basin history, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Evacuations in Cuba saw hundreds of thousands of people placed in shelters, with a Hurricane Warning being issued for the Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Las Tunas, Holguin and Granma provinces, per the NHC. (RELATED: Jamaican Government Warns Residents About Crocodiles Amid Flooding From Hurricane Melissa)
Melissa had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph at landfall while the storm was moving in the northeast direction at 10 mph, according to the NHC. The center of the storm was 20 miles on the east side of Chivirico, and around 60 miles from Guantánamo to the west-southwest.
Hurricane Melissa was forecasted to move across the island nation in the morning hours Wednesday, and is expected to hit the Bahamas later. According to the NHC, the rain from the storm could result in dangerous flooding, which has already been seen on video in Cuba. Forecasters are also warning about landslide potential. Expanding from the Caribbean, Bermuda is under a Hurricane Watch.
Heavy rains hit Cuba’s second largest city, Santiago de Cuba, on October 28, hours before Hurricane Melissa was set to make landfall. It is the third most intense hurricane observed in the Caribbean after Wilma in 2005 and Gilbert in 1988, according to AccuWeather. pic.twitter.com/41sSVAGsBr
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 29, 2025
The landfall into Cuba comes after Hurricane Melissa slammed Jamaica with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
