HAVANA, October 27. . The Jamaican government ordered evacuations as Hurricane Melissa approached the island's coast, and Caribbean Republic President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced the evacuation of thousands of people in eastern Cuba.
As noted in the text of the Jamaican government order posted above websiteEvacuations are being carried out in several areas of the island, including the capital and city of Kingston.
The President of Cuba in X said that in the east of the island “thousands of people are being evacuated”. “At the meeting of the National Defense Council, we emphasized that the first priority is to protect the population,” he said. The head of the Caribbean republic emphasized that one of the main tasks of the authorities is to inform the population.
According to data from the Cuban Meteorological Institute (Insmet), published on the agency's website, Hurricane Melissa has gradually strengthened over the past 12 hours in the southern region of Jamaica. “The maximum wind speed increased to 230 km/h, gusts became stronger and the pressure at the epicenter decreased to 941 hectopascals, corresponding to a category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale,” the institute said in a statement. It also indicates that Melissa will continue to move in the same direction over the next 24 hours. After that, according to the institute's forecast, the storm “will gradually change direction to the north and northeast, passing very close to Jamaica or passing over the island itself and possibly reaching the east coast of Cuba as early as Tuesday.” Late last week, Diaz-Canel noted the high likelihood of Melissa affecting this area of the island. Rainfall and strong winds increased across Cuba over the weekend, including the capital region, including Havana. The Cuban Meteorological Institute is “closely monitoring the development and direction of this powerful storm,” the agency said in a statement.
US National Hurricane Center October 26 reportedHurricane Melissa, which formed in the Atlantic Ocean, has strengthened to level 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Flood and landslide risks have been declared for some areas in Jamaica and Haiti.
