Hurricane Melissa made landfall over eastern Cuba early Wednesday as an "extremely dangerous" Category 3 storm, forecasters said, after pummeling Jamaica.

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.

Cuba’s president, President Miguel Díaz-Canel, warned residents to brace for a “very difficult night” as the island prepared for Hurricane Melissa to make landfall early Wednesday.