As it happened: Hurricane Melissa makes landfall near Jamaica’s New Hope, winds up to 300km/h; Jamaican PM declares nation ‘disaster area’ as deaths reported in neighbouring countries

Thanks for joining us for our live coverage of Hurricane Melissa, which is expected to make landfall in Cuba after tearing through Jamaica earlier today. Here’s a recap on the weather event labelled the “storm of the century” in the Caribbean:

• Melissa made landfall in Jamaica about 4am AEDT, as one of the most powerful storms ever observed in the Atlantic and the strongest to hit the island nation since records began 174 years ago.
• Catastrophic winds up to 300km/h have left three-quarters of Jamaicans without power, and destroyed homes, businesses and hospitals. The scale of devastation will likely not be known for many days yet.
• The hurricane is heading out to sea and is expected to maintain category 3 strength or even intensify to category 4
• Cuba is next in the storm’s firing line. Catastrophic flash flooding and multiple landslides are forecast, with President Miguel Diaz-Canel warning of a “very difficult night” for the Caribbean nation. More than 735,000 people have been evacuated ahead of the hurricane’s predicted landfall in Cuba this evening (AEDT).

This is where we’ll leave our live coverage for now. We will have updates in tomorrow’s rolling live news coverage and stories in the Extreme Weather topic page. Thank you for your company.

Thanks for joining us for our live coverage of Hurricane Melissa.

Here is a recap of what has been called “the storm of the century” for Jamaica:

• Hurricane Melissa made landfall near New Hope in Jamaica’s south-west about 4am Wednesday AEDT as a category 5 hurricane, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said.

• It is currently a category 3 storm, after it was earlier downgraded by the NHC from category 5 to 4, but is expected to remain “a powerful hurricane” as it moves across Cuba and the Bahamas and towards Bermuda.

• Melissa hit the Jamaican coastline as one of the most powerful landfalls ever observed in the Atlantic, and is the strongest storm to hit the island since records were first kept 174 years ago.

• The storm tracked directly across the island, unleashing catastrophic 300km/h winds, torrential rain, and a life-threatening storm surge, before moving away towards eastern Cuba.
• The island has never faced a category 5 hurricane before, with a UN agency calling it the “storm of the century”.
• The hurricane has claimed seven lives so far – three in Jamaica as residents prepared for the storm, three in Haiti, and one in the Dominican Republic.
• The NHC has said Melissa is more powerful than Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans 20 years ago, killing almost 1400 people. Its sustained winds of 300km/h are stronger than those during Katrina’s maximum intensity in 2009.

• Rescue and emergency teams in Jamaica have started to venture out into affected areas, but many roads are now blocked by fallen trees and debris, leaving some families stranded in flood-prone areas.
• At least 240,000 residents are without power, many in south-western Jamaica. Three hospitals have been damaged by flooding and 75 patients in Black River Hospital had to be evacuated after the facility lost power.
• About 15,000 people are currently in emergency shelters across Jamaica, according to government officials.
• Melissa is also expected to make landfall in eastern Cuba later today.

More than 735,000 Cubans have been evacuated ahead of Hurricane Melissa making landfall in the coming hours, as President Miguel Díaz-Canel warns of a “very difficult night” for the Caribbean nation.

Catastrophic flash flooding and multiple landslides are forecast for Cuba, after Melissa destroyed homes, hospitals and businesses across Jamaica, where three-quarters of the population remain without power. Díaz-Canel shared images from an emergency meeting with representatives from Cuba’s provinces earlier today, as final preparations are made before Melissa makes landfall.

“I ask you to be alert, show solidarity, and not forget discipline in the face of this threat. We will prevail,” he said, according to Cuba’s official state newspaper, Granma.

In a concerning sign, the eye of Hurricane Melissa appears to have become noticeably clearer on recent satellite images as it heads towards Cuba.

A better-defined eye usually means a hurricane’s inner core is reorganising or strengthening, says CNN meteorologist Briana Waxman. That could help it maintain category 3 strength or even intensify to category 4 before making landfall.

Heavy storm surges will continue to affect northern Jamaica overnight as Melissa tracks north, the result of the front moving in a counterclockwise rotation, Rohan Brown from Jamaica’s Meteorological Service said.

About 540,000 Jamaicans, or almost 20 per cent of the population, remain without power, according to government officials.

Jamaican authorities are expecting to start the recovery process in the island’s eastern end immediately and restore electricity and telecommunications in the next 24 hours.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness told CNN it could take a few more days before crews could access and restore services to the southern part of the island.

Holness said the devastation caused by the front included damage to hospitals as well as residential and commercial properties, but his teams had “mounted a very credible and strong preparation and recovery strategy”.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Floyd Green took to social media to share his heartache along with a collection of videos showing the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa.

“First came [Hurricane] Beryl, now Melissa. We don’t know why South West, why St Bess, why our neighbours, why Jamaica,” he wrote.

“But we know this: we have risen from devastation before, and we will rise again.”

Thanks for joining us for our live coverage of Hurricane Melissa.

Here is a recap of what has been called “the storm of the century” for Jamaica:

• Hurricane Melissa made landfall near New Hope in Jamaica’s south-west about 4am Wednesday AEDT as a category 5 hurricane, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said.

• It is currently a category 3 storm, after it was earlier downgraded by the NHC from category 5 to 4, but is expected to remain “a powerful hurricane” as it moves across Cuba and the Bahamas and towards Bermuda.

• Melissa hit the Jamaican coastline as one of the most powerful landfalls ever observed in the Atlantic, and is the strongest storm to hit the island since records were first kept 174 years ago.

• The storm tracked directly across the island, unleashing catastrophic 300km/h winds, torrential rain, and a life-threatening storm surge, before moving away towards eastern Cuba.
• The island has never faced a category 5 hurricane before, with a UN agency calling it the “storm of the century”.
• The hurricane has claimed seven lives so far – three in Jamaica as residents prepared for the storm, three in Haiti, and one in the Dominican Republic.
• The NHC has said Melissa is more powerful than Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans 20 years ago, killing almost 1400 people. Its sustained winds of 300km/h are stronger than those during Katrina’s maximum intensity in 2009.

• Rescue and emergency teams in Jamaica have started to venture out into affected areas, but many roads are now blocked by fallen trees and debris, leaving some families stranded in flood-prone areas.
• At least 240,000 residents are without power, many in south-western Jamaica. Three hospitals have been damaged by flooding and 75 patients in Black River Hospital had to be evacuated after the facility lost power.
• About 15,000 people are currently in emergency shelters across Jamaica, according to government officials.
• Melissa is also expected to make landfall in eastern Cuba later today.

As Jamaican authorities begin to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa, footage of the rescue efforts by military personnel is surfacing online.

A video shared by Jamaica’s Defence Force shows officers leading an “elderly gentleman” in need of medical help off a vehicle equipped to provide critical aid in Black River, on the island’s south coast.

Images shared by the regiment alongside the footage show the officers checking the man’s blood pressure and placing him on a wheelchair.