A second landfall is forecast for early Wednesday morning in eastern Cuba. While slight weakening may occur due to terrain interaction, Melissa is expected to remain a strong storm near Category 4 intensity.

Hurricane Melissa is expected to hit eastern Cuba after passing Jamaica. NBC News’ Ed Augustin reports on how the island is dealing with power cuts, food shortages and an outbreak of tropical diseases as the storm approaches.

Cuba is bracing for Hurricane Melissa as it heads towards Santiago de Cuba, the island’s second-largest city, threatening catastrophic damage at a time the government is already failing to provide the most basic services and thousands are sick because of the rise of mosquito-transmitted diseases and other illnesses linked to poor sanitary conditions.

The storm is expected to bring destructive winds and life-threatening and catastrophic flooding and landslides to Jamaica, forecasters say.

Jamaica is expected to be in the storm's eyewall, which refers to the band of dense clouds surrounding the eye of the hurricane. The eyewall generally produces the fiercest winds and heaviest rainfall, according to Deanna Hence, a professor of climate, meteorology and atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

UNICEF is supporting emergency preparedness efforts as the strongest storm of the 2025 hurricane season approaches landfall.

Melissa has already killed three people in Haiti and Jamaica each and one person in the Dominican Republic. United Nations staff are preparing to deploy to Cuba and Jamaica this week as the region nervously awaits landfall of Hurricane Melissa.