Hurricane Melissa hits Cuba

Hurricane Melissa slammed into Cuba early on Wednesday, hours after causing devastation in neighboring Jamaica as the strongest-ever storm on record to hit that Caribbean island nation, Reuters reported.

Melissa hit the southern coast of eastern Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

"Life-threatening storm surge, flash flooding and landslides, and damaging hurricane winds are ongoing this morning," the center said.

Around 735,000 people were evacuated from their homes in eastern Cuba as the storm approached, authorities said. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel warned on Tuesday the storm would cause "significant damage" and urged people to heed evacuation orders.

Melissa had weakened to a still dangerous Category 3 hurricane after roaring ashore near Jamaica's southwestern town of New Hope on Tuesday packing sustained winds of up to 185 mph, well above the 157 mph threshold for Category 5, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale.