Hurricane Melissa barreled over eastern Cuba on Wednesday morning as a powerful Category 3 storm, bringing torrential rainfall and heavy flooding to the island’s eastern provinces after making landfall near Santiago de Cuba, the second-largest city.

The hurricane’s center struck near the coastal town of Chivirico in the municipality of Guamá, Santiago de Cuba province, at 3:05 a.m. local time, Cuba’s Institute of Meteorology reported. Chivirico is about 40 miles southeast of Santiago de Cuba, the island’s second largest city.

Though Melissa weakened slightly after barreling over Jamaica, it remained an extremely dangerous storm. At landfall, the hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 121 miles per hour, according to Cuba’s Institute of Meteorology.

Its center crossed trough several towns in Santiago de Cuba province — including Palma Soriano and Contramaestre — and Holguín, where it moved near Birán, the town where Fidel and Raúl Castro were born, Mayarí and Banes. It left the island as a Category 2 hurricane near Banes, in Holguín’s coast.

Holguín reported more than 13 inches of rain, according to the Institute.

In the morning, images began circulating on social media of the devastation Melissa left behind.

Sagua de Tánamo, a town in Holguín province, awoke to flooding of the Sagua River. In Contramaestre, a town in Santiago de Cuba province, Melissa’s strong winds uprooted trees and tore off sections of sidewalk.

“The streets of Holguín are a raging river,” read the caption accompanying a photo published in the Cuban state-run media outlet Cubanoticias, showing a wide, flooded avenue.

Jiguaní, in the province of Granma, and Banes, in Holguín, also reported heavy flooding.

“Thank you, Lord, that we are alive,” a resident is heard in a video showing the flooding in Jiguaní. “Look at my house,” a woman says in the video, pointing at her flooded home.

Eastern Cuba is one of the poorest regions in the country, where many people live in precarious housing with zinc roofs. In Palma Soriano, images posted by residents and local journalists showed houses that had lost their roofs or were destroyed.

“Extensive damage, and Hurricane Melissa is still over Cuban territory,” wrote Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel on his Twitter account. “I ask our people not to let their guard down, to maintain discipline and to remain safely indoors. As soon as conditions allow, we will begin the recovery. We are ready.”

Strong swells with waves between 13 and 20 feet have been battering the southern coasts of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantánamo provinces, according to the Institute. The National Hurricane Center reported that peak storm surge could reach 7 to 11 feet above normal tide levels near and to the east of where the center made landfall, accompanied by large and destructive waves.

Melissa is expected to weaken slightly as it moves across Santiago de Cuba and Holguín provinces before exiting near the municipality of Banes in Holguín province Wednesday morning. Dangerous surf and flooding are expected to spread to the northern coastline of the eastern region beginning Wednesday morning, according to Cuba’s Institute of Meteorology.

Electricity was cut off in those provinces since early evening on Tuesday. A few videos circulating online and published by Cuban state media show flooding in Chivirico and other areas battered by the hurricane.

Cuban authorities said that more than 735,000 people had been evacuated, most of them with relatives and neighbors. In a televised message, the country’s leader Miguel Díaz-Canel urged the population to follow instructions.

“There must be good citizen behavior, creating an atmosphere of solidarity, cooperation, and respect for the measures that have been implemented so that we do not have to lament, firstly, the loss of human lives, and secondly, that the impacts and material damages can be mitigated,” he said.

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