This does not look good to say the least. The hurricane is currently passing through Jamaica and is expected to hit Cuba’s eastern provinces early tomorrow. Hoping the best for everyone.

Hurricane Melissa

"Melissa will approach the southern coast of eastern Cuba tonight, entering the territory somewhere along the southern coast between Granma and Santiago de Cuba. Hurricane Melissa will experience fluctuations in intensity, but will remain a major hurricane as it passes through Cuba..."

Melissa leaves Jamaica heading towards Cuba

Damage reports coming in...
Called, “the storm of the century” down there.

Hurricane Melissa damage in Jamaica

Memories of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. This storm seems to have the same path as Sandy. I rode the storm out at the beach in Holguin and visited Santiago about 3 months later, if I recall correctly. It definitely looked different after the storm.
My sincere hope that Santiago does well. I have not been there in a few years but it is the Cuba city that I have spent the most time in.
¡Preparación y resistencia! I have faith in the Cuban system for such events as these. Ever onward to victory Santiago!

We were talking about this and hope for the best for the Holguin /Guardalavaca area our number one place to visit over the years where the storm looks to be heading to. Wishing the best for Santiago too!!

Yep! Over in Camaguey, no problems there. My wife was worried about her mother's zinc ripple-chip metal roof panels blowing off of her casa, but she's told me that there's been little rain there and only a stiff breeze. We were worried at one time of course, but problems averted as the trajectory changed. For the people of Bayamo, Holguin, and Santiago de Cuba, as well as all parts in between, we'll have to wait until it's over as Melissa churns overhead of them now. Our prayers go out to all living within those areas, and to those with friends and family en el oriente. Terry

Melissa is currently over the Bahamas and it has been downgraded to a Category 1.

No reports of deaths in Cuba so far but other countries are not so lucky such as Jamaica where the hurricane was a Category 5 when it hit.

From what I am hearing regarding Santiago, the hurricane was not as powerful as expected but powerful enough. The center of the storm passed about 50 km west of Santiago city near Chivrico where the Sierra Mar and Los Galeones beach resorts are located. Up to now, everyone safe and accounted for in Cuba.

Looked like lots of flooding in the Santiago area. They were luckier than Jamaica.

Well, it was Jamaica taking the hit that knocked the punch out of that hurricane. If Jamaica hadn't gotten in the way, it would have been Cuba looking more like Jamaica today. Horrendous damage there and a terrible loss of life. It's going to take years to fully recover from that Cat 5 devastation. Very sad. But the upside for everyone in the Caribe now is that we're likely done with the hurricane season for this year. Terry

I heard through the grapevine that a friend of a friend had his trip to Santiago was canceled for this weekend. He did a package deal but the flight was to Holguin. The excuse was that the hotel just wasn’t ready. He re-scheduled for January when all should be good.

An article on Cuba and hurricanes....

"Cuba has long stood out in regional comparisons for its ability to prevent deaths from hurricanes, often through mass evacuations. ............ Daily blackouts are making it more difficult for households and hospitals to prepare and recover from disaster.

"Preparedness is also rooted in culture. In the decades after hurricane Flora......... Just as they had repelled the US-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs in 1961, citizens were called on to play their part and mobilise against hurricanes."

Cuba's success with Hurricanes

Interesting article on the impact of Hurricane Melissa on the rice crop in Granma province... and the loss of 28,000 head of cattle that drowned during that catastrophic event. Things do indeed look very dire now in el oriente de Cuba. Very sad. I just recently sent my wife 12 X 1kg bags of long-grain rice through supermarket-treew, but all imported, of course. We're all truly blessed considering what those poor people in Granma province are now going through. Terry

https://havanatimes.org/features/the...-eastern-cuba/

Seems that so much of the mosquito problems are from this hurricane and they were not able to stop the spread that came after with the limited amounts of resources. We are looking to vacation in western Cuba this winter as the east gets better.

I hope everything is well in Jaimica. Please make sure to update this forum to people stay safe.

dale, there were full blown epidemics of the chikungunya and dengue viruses happening all across Cuba well before hurricane Melissa hit. Certainly the fallout from that hurricane hasn't helped the situation in the oriente especially. But it wasn't caused by the hurricane - it was already there. Terry