More than 735,000 people were evacuated in Cuba by Tuesday night, Oct. 28, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a social media post. In the Bahamas, next in Melissa's path to the northeast, the government ordered evacuations of residents in southern portions of that archipelago.

Hurricane Melissa brought hurricane-force gusts to Bermuda overnight and will weaken as it heads north, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Maps show its forecast path.

The storm hit Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane on Tuesday and dangerous conditions continue across the Caribbean

Hurricane Melissa, a powerful and slow-moving storm, wreaked havoc on Jamaica and Cuba as it passed over the islands Tuesday and Wednesday. In Santiago de Cuba, Reinaldo Charon was one of the few people who went outside on Wednesday morning after Hurricane Melissa tore through the eastern part of the island.

Hurricane Melissa— one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded—is now off Cuba’s eastern coast, after leaving a trail of destruction across the large island and its much smaller neighbor, Jamaica.

With the help of satellites, we are beginning to get an understanding of just how catastrophic Hurricane Melissa was. On Oct. 28, Hurricane Melissa became the fourth hurricane in 75 years to make landfall on the island of Jamaica and shattered several Atlantic hurricane records.

Jamaica’s peak tourism season is one month away, and officials in the hurricane-ravaged nation are rushing to rebuild from the catastrophic Category 5 storm that shredded the island’s western region

The updates sent by friends and neighbors on WhatsApp confirmed what fisher Prince Davis already feared: Hurricane Melissa put a hole in the stern of his 50-foot (15-meter) fishing boat, and damaged the cabin and back deck.