Are you affected by Hurricane Melissa? Contact james.reynolds@independent.co.uk

Hurricane Melissa barreled toward eastern Cuba, where it was expected to make landfall as a major storm after pummeling Jamaica as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.

More than 700,000 people were evacuated in Cuba, according to president Miguel Diaz-Canel, and forecasters said the category 3 storm would unleash catastrophic damage in Santiago de Cuba and nearby areas.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Holguin and Las Tunas, as well as for the southeastern and central Bahamas. A hurricane watch was in effect for Bermuda.

"Numerous landslides are likely in those areas," said Michael Brennan, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The hurricane could worsen Cuba's severe economic crisis, which has already led to prolonged power blackouts, fuel shortages and food shortages.

"There will be a lot of work to do. We know there will be a lot of damage," Dïaz-Canel said in a televised address, in which he assured that "no one is left behind and no resources are spared to protect the lives of the population."

The Jamaican government has unveiled an official website to coordinate relief and recovery after Hurricane Melissa tore across the island on Tuesday, leaving homes destroyed, hospitals flooded and hundreds of thousands without power.

Information minister Dana Morris Dixon said the site aims to centralise donations and real-time damage reports, warning people against fraudulent fund-raisers posing as relief drives.

Through the portal, residents can upload photos of flood damage or blocked roads to alert authorities, while an interactive shelter locator helps displaced families find refuge.

“It’s about mobilising resources – for people in Jamaica and our diaspora – to support recovery in a transparent way,” Dixon said.

The site also lists urgent needs for the roughly 400,000 people affected, including shelter materials, hygiene kits, medical supplies and debris-clearing tools.

The storm unleashed torrential rain, flash flooding, and landslides, ripping roofs off homes, uprooting trees and power lines, and leaving more than half a million people without electricity.

In the southwestern town of Black River, floodwaters trapped families in their homes as emergency crews were unable to reach them due to dangerous conditions.

Across the island, boulders blocked roads, and hospitals were forced into emergency mode as flooding and power outages disrupted critical care.

Melissa is expected to make landfall along eastern Cuba’s southern coast anytime now as an extremely dangerous major hurricane, the National Hurricane Center has warned.

“Melissa is expected to make landfall soon along the Southern Coast of Eastern Cuba as an extremely dangerous major hurricane,” it said.

It has weakend slightly to a category 3 storm, but is expected to remain a powerful hurricane when it moves across Cuba and the Bahamas and passes near Bermuda.

At 10 p.m. local time, the storm was located about 80miles (130km) west-southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba, and about 270miles (435km) south of the central Bahamas. Melissa is packing maximum sustained winds of 125mph (205km/h), moving northeast at 10 mph (17km/h).

Jamaica’s healthcare system is facing one of its worst crises in recent memory after Hurricane Melissa battered hospitals and clinics across the island, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

Floodwaters have inundated multiple facilities, forcing evacuations and threatening to cripple essential medical services.

One man called a radio station seeking urgent help for a woman in labor in western Jamaica as the hurricane neared landfall. The show's host pleaded with listeners to let him know the safest hospital before an obstetrician called in to provide detailed directions on how to deliver a baby, if necessary.

Desmond McKenzie, deputy chairman of Jamaica's Disaster Risk Management Council said four main hospitals were damaged and one of those lost power, forcing evacuations.

Spanish Town Hospital, one of Jamaica’s largest, entered full emergency mode amid fears of flooding, while Black River Hospital in St Elizabeth Parish was among the hardest hit, with around 75 patients evacuated after water breached the building.

Health workers are relocating patients under dangerous conditions, hampered by blocked roads and power cuts. Other major hospitals – including Falmouth Public General, Noel Holmes, and Princess Margaret – have activated emergency plans as flood risks rise.

PAHO’s health emergencies director, Ciro Ugarte, warned that “no amount of preparation is sufficient in the face of a Category 5 hurricane,” calling the situation “tense” and predicting severe damage to health services.

The organisation has sent emergency medical kits and is preparing to deploy field hospitals and mobile labs in Jamaica and other affected areas.

Relief supplies are expected to start arriving once Kingston’s airport reopens later this week – a development Mr Ugarte described as “God’s gift in the middle of this situation.”

Ahead of the landfall of Hurricane Melissa, Cuba's president Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez has said more than 735,000 people have been evacuated from across the country.

"It will be a very difficult night for all of Cuba, but we will recover, always with the faith in victory that Fidel and Raúl instilled in us," he said on X, referring to the Castro brothers, the country's former leaders.

As floodwaters rise across Jamaica’s capital, officials in Kingston have issued an unusual warning to be beware of crocodiles.

The country’s environmental agency said the reptiles may have been swept from their natural habitats by Hurricane Melissa’s torrential rains and could appear in unexpected places, including flooded streets and yards.

Across the island, floodwaters swept through communities, roofs were ripped from homes, trees and power lines toppled, and landslides blocked roads.

Internet observatory NetBlocks has reported a sharp drop in connectivity across Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa continues to batter the island.

The monitoring service said hundreds of thousands of residents have lost power and telecommunications after high winds brought down lines and damaged infrastructure.

A graph shared by NetBlocks on X shows a steep decline in network activity since yesterday, reflecting the widespread outages caused by the storm.

Donald Trump said the US will help Jamaica with Hurricane Melissa.

"We're watching it closely, and we're prepared to move," he said.

Trump marveled at the storm's strength, saying: “I've never seen that before. I guess it can get that high, but I've never seen it," he said.