Hurricane Melissa made landfall in eastern Cuba near the city of Chivirico early Wednesday as a Category 3 storm after pummeling Jamaica as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Hundreds of thousands of people had been evacuated to shelters in Cuba. A hurricane warning was in effect for the provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Holguin and Las Tunas.

Early Wednesday, Melissa had top sustained winds of 193 kilometres per hour and was moving northeast at 16 kilometres per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The hurricane was centered 32 kilometres east of Chivirico and about 97 kilometres west-southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba.

Melissa was forecast to cross the island through the morning and move into t

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