Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated in eastern Cuba and a hurricane warning was in effect for the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Holguin and Las Tunas as Hurricane Melissa made landfall as a Category 3 storm early Wednesday.

Hurricane Melissa barreled into Jamaica on Tuesday as a Category 5 storm with some of the fastest winds and strongest intensities ever recorded. The storm blew through the Caribbean island’s southwestern coast,