Jamaica has been hit by a record-breaking storm, Hurricane Melissa, with Cuba next in its path.
Melissa, the strongest storm in modern history to hit the area, has eased to a category three storm with wind speeds of 205 kilometres per hour, after earlier reaching nearly 300 kilometres per hour, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hurricane Center.
Up to 30 inches of rain is expected in some parts of the country, with areas experiencing flash flooding and the International Federation of the Red Cross (IRFC) reporting that up to 1.5 million people in Jamaica are expected to be directly affected.
The IFRC has already launched into “full operations mode" to help residents deal with the fallout of the storm.
“All 13 branches and all staff have been activated since last Wednesday," said Horace Glance, deputy operations manager for the Jamaican Red Cross
"It’s all-hands-on-deck, all systems go.”
It is now heading towards Cuba, with President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez confirming that more than 735,000 people have already evacuated ahead of the hurricane's arrival.
“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 wrote on X.
Meanwhile, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness is bracing for the clean up and likely loss of life, saying that wherever the eye of Melissa had hit on the island, there “would be devastating impacts”, but that by Wednesday (local time) teams should “be able to restore electricity, telecommunications" to the eastern end of the island, while the south will take a little longer.
“Reports that we have had so far would include damage to hospitals, significant damage to residential property, housing and commercial property as well,” Holness said in an interview with CNN.
"We are expecting that there would be some loss of life.”
