Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Cuba’s southern coast near Santiago de Cuba early Wednesday morning as a powerful Category 3 storm, bringing torrential rainfall and flooding to the island’s eastern provinces.

Beatriz Johnson Urrutia, the head of Santiago de Cuba's Provincial Defense Council, acknowledged on Wednesday the "extremely challenging" conditions

The Caribbean region faces one of its most challenging hurricane seasons as powerful storms continue to batter island nations. Cuba now finds itself in the direct path of a major hurricane, forcing massive evacuation efforts and emergency preparations across multiple provinces.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane -- one of the most powerful hurricane landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin. Melissa is now a Category 4 hurricane as it heads toward eastern Cuba, after bringing catastrophic winds, rain and storm surge to Jamaica.