SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba —

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 115 mph and was moving northeast at 12 mph according to the NHC in Miami. The hurricane was centered about 60 miles west of Guantánamo, Cuba, and about 230 miles south of the central Bahamas.

Melissa was forecast to cross the island through the morning and move into the Bahamas later Wednesday. Th

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